Warriors - Sophi'Gaelea
by LadySonolia
Summary: First our apartment explodes. Then we land in a green hell. Somehow we escape there to end up alone in the wilderness of some weird world to fend for ourselves. That is until we get captured by slavers. Luckily I get saved by elves. Yup, elves. Oh, and apparently I have magic. Yeah, magic. And I learn it from a Dragon Lady. The story starts pre-canon and moves into canon material.
1. Travel Plans

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age or any of its content. I do own the original characters that appear. I do not consider the Inquisitor to be an OC, but rather content owned by Bioware.**

 **Edit: Also this is a story that a friend and I have been working on** **her account is Lady Audentium, the story title for her half of the story is "Warriors: Arryn Mauntelle". Please enjoy the story we have created together!**

 **Please be aware that I have given this story an M rating for some content and language in this half of the story as well as content in Lady Audentium's half of the story.**

Chapter 1

"Alright! I be sure to grab some tonight so I can pack it to bring to you." I laugh to my great grandmother on the side of the phone. She's asked me to grab some select candies that she can't find on the other side of the pond in England.

"So your flight is the day after tomorrow in the afternoon?" her old and kind voice asked from the other end of the phone call. I really miss seeing her but once the research center moved from Canada back to the main branch in England I haven't been able to see her much since.

"Yep, my flight leaves at 1:40pm. Ethan and I leaving Calgary together and we get to Toronto around 6 pm. We are meeting Elysia at the airport there and our flight to Heathrow isn't until the next morning. We leave from Toronto at seven in the morning, we're supposed to land until around seven in the evening your time."

"I will be sure to soften your parents up before you guys land, we both know what happened last time you saw each other. Well I'll let you get back to the packing I interrupted," her laughter sang across to my ear, how her laugh still sounded so great at her age was beyond me. "I look forward to seeing my light, as well as those twins, Misamel and Adhlea. Goodbye now, I love you my light."

"Goodbye, grandma, I love you too." I lower my cellphone from my ear and look around my room at the mess that had been created by my pitiful attempts to prepare for a whole month of travel on the other side of the world.

Unsurprisingly, I feel a bout of laziness strike me and I simply stroll out of my room ready once again to ignore my worldly responsibilities to slack off and do menial, useless tasks until I am practically out of time. Whelp, I suppose that there is no prevent my inevitable use of the amazing skill of procrastination that I have carefully developed throughout my life.

I decided that I might as well use the time I won't use packing to do so at least a little useful, so I ventured to the grocery store to pick up the requested candy to bring on my trip.

I love Grandma Ella, I suppose that everyone is really close with their grandparents but I always felt that my great grandma Ella and I have something special. She always calls my brother and sister by the names she gave them. Ethan's full name is Ethan'Misamel so she calls him Misamel and his twin sister's full name is Elysia'Adhlea and Grandma Ella calls her Adhlea. My full name is Sophi'Gaelea, the name that Grandma Ella gave to me, Gaelea, actually comes from her full name, something like Ellasin'Gaelashavuna, I think, but she has always addressed me as "my light."

Thinking about the trip also made me nervous. I am going to see my parents for an extended period for the first time in almost three years. The whole thing started with my sculpture class and my design class in university in the second term of my first year and I decided to switch degrees to go forward to be an architect rather than an astrophysicist. I am still taking lots of physics courses and astronomy courses but I still don't want to make a career out of it. They had always had my future planned for me and I suppose that I wanted at least one decision in my life to be strictly my own and have it belong to me. I didn't think that it would start a war of estrangement, but I guess they were really intent on my becoming a scientist for our family's company, Evanuris.

They also cut me off from the substantial wealth that my family has, the deal was that if I wanted to go my own way, then I could make my own way. I also have no doubt that they will attempt to get me to go to school for science again. One thing that kind of adds insult to injury from my perspective is that Grandma Ella is the person who founded Evanuris and she is completely fine with me not working for them. I just hope that my parents can accept that while I was doing well with the physics and astronomy courses, I felt like I couldn't commit to it for the rest of my life.

I do, however, regret what it has done to my relationship with my parents, we used to have a really good relationship so far as daughter to parents goes. Now all I have with them is a call maybe once a month and that I didn't even go to visit them when they went to stay with Elysia in Toronto for Christmas the past couple of years. With more than a year since then, to think about it, I have looked into going for a split degree but I haven't spoken with an academic adviser about it yet.

The company my family runs, Evanuris, is a research company that works with almost every science under the sun. Through their research they produce all sorts of products that are sold all over the world. So naturally the company is very successful and quite rich. Hence my family's wealth comes from being the direct lineage of one of the main people who founded it, my great-great grandma Ella. Yup. But hey, I got as disowned as one really could be, no money, no connections except those I make myself and no fast track anywhere. Although I never felt right when my parents used their name to get me somewhere or something. I have been really liking working for myself and learning how to live on my own.

I feel a shudder go up my back due to the nerves getting me worked up over the whole situation. The silver lining? After I deal the shit-storm that will be my parents, I get to travel Europe myself. It is going to be amazing. I just have to get through the visit with my parents, luckily, Grandma Ella will be there, and hopefully her presence will keep things calm.

Although I also feel the excitement of travelling with Ethan. It is always lots of fun to travel with him, I mean he's my brother and has a strong build. He has the steady stance along with the muscles he got from his daily workouts. Along with all of that is there is the fact that he is fully and totally gay. With that specific combination of things means that I can travel with a guy and gush over the other cute guys that walk by or are on the plane with us. It is too much fun to be with him, especially since he is more invested in flirting with guys than I am.

Once I got home from the store I eyed the pile of stuff that still had to be packed up and I could just feel the procrastination monster rouse from its den to rear its head and… Yup. I'll do that later. Hmmm… I think I'll go watch a TV show for a while before all the people that my roommate Arryn invited over. Her full name is Arryn Mauntelle but due to the more than five years of friendship and four years of roommate-itude, I've long since been able to call her by her nickname.

I look around the apartment that Arry and I rent together. My room is at the end of the hallway on the right and is the master bedroom of the place, Arry's is the room just before it and is a bit smaller. The main reason I have the larger bedroom is that I pay a hundred dollars more a month to rent the place. Our bathroom is at the end of the hall opposite from my bedroom. Coming back down the hallway towards the front door on the same side as the bathroom at the beginning of the hallway our kitchen can be found. Just past that is the dining room. Across from it is the living room, it is modest but I find that it is perfect.

I head to my bedroom to make sure that it is presentable in the case that it is viewed as people go the bathroom. As I pick up my stuff from the floor I spot my suitcase on my bed and am lead on a guilt trip to finishing that whole getting ready for a trip.

After I finished packing what I could, I put my suitcase on the floor and walk out to the living room. As I walked through the entrance to the living room and it feels as if I walked through a veil of thick air that is hard to breathe in. I feel a wave of dizziness and minor nausea roll over me. Feeling as if I can't breathe I turn around and down the hallway using the wall to steady me. The world turns around me and I fall over in the hallway onto my knees. Leaning against the wall I manage to pull myself back to my feet. I make to my bed and lay down facing the ceiling. I barely lay my head on the pillow before I fall into a deep sleep.

Blackness followed by a blinding green flash, and images of frightening creatures, swarms of spiders, and a mass of living lava swirl in my vision. Another green flash brings me to a vision of a grand building that almost looks like a temple, with lines of people walking towards it before a huge green explosion destroys it all. Everything fades to black and I hear a voice ring through my mind. It sounds like glittering glass tinkling onto the ground. I finally make out what it is trying say but I can only make out parts of what is said at first, _"My Light…"_ What… Is that Grandma Ella's voice? _"My Light, Sophi… I fear that I will not see you before it happens…"_ What is she talking about? Before what happens? _"I now give you the rest of my power, it will now become fully a part of who you are."_ Power? Grandma, what are you talking about? _"You will face many hardships in the time to come. Please be strong my Light and do not give up living"_ I could hear her voice beginning to fade away sounding more and more like the tinkling glass again, _"Goodbye my Light, I love you…"_

A blinding flash of white wrenches me from my sleep and causes me to bolt straight up out of bed. Disoriented I look around, my bedroom. What on Earth was that? That had to be the most vivid dream I have ever had before. I sit up properly on my bed and put my hand on my face trying to orient myself again.

I get up and walk over to look at myself in the mirror. Yikes. My golden blonde hair that reaches almost to the middle of my back is all over the place and I definitely needed to get into something that isn't stained and stinky. Not to mention that I look kind of like a ghost… Hmm… Maybe if I grab a light snack… Like crackers or something… I go to the kitchen and grab just that, a handful of crackers and two little cheese snacks. I look at the oven clock and realize that Arry will be done her shift in about half an hour. That leaves a little over an hour to get ready for her get together.

I head into the closet that doubles as a prep room with a mirror and counter. I first grab an outfit from the hangers. I decided on the dark emerald green camisole paired with the light orange t-shirt, not exactly nice but plenty good enough for the night ahead. I head over to the counter to get on top of the makeup situation. A slight nagging sensation in the back of my head gives me the feeling that Arry has something planned with Jordan that would involve someone who is a mutual friend of theirs. This friend, judging by past attempts at the same goal, is likely attractive, nice and extremely single. I do my best to at least give the impression that I am going to try, which is what she always pushes for but I never get the sense that it will ever go anywhere so I don't generally give it a whole lot of effort. With the whole business in mind I do my hair in my best attempt at a messy but chic side braid.

I go back to my full length mirror to gaze upon the finished product. My blonde hair actually kooks pretty nice in the braid, with the good outfit and the decent makeup it makes me seem at least slightly desirable. The make-up job was making my eyes look extra green and that I found very pleasing as my eyes are my favourite thing about me. At least I clean up pretty nicely. Although that hasn't ever seemed to help to this point. My five feet four inches have always seemed so insignificant and that hasn't changed. My build is the kind that most people try to get away from, almost bordering on the beginnings of overweight but never actually being there. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate my body. I just have never felt at home in my body, almost as if something is missing or not quite right. It's really hard to explain but it likes my body stopped growing before it was supposed to.

The sound of the door's bolt sliding draws me into the hallway in time for me to see Arry come in and lock the door behind her. "Hey!" I shout down the hallway, "How was your shift?" She bent down to take off her shoes and her hair that comes down to about her mid-back and happens to be azure at her roots and fades into an emerald green at the ends. Standing up she reaches her full height of five feet and six inches. Of course our height difference is an area of pride for Arry, she loves, loves, loves that she has a whole two inches on me. She has an average build, not skinny but certainly far from any definition of fat. Nothing on her is too big or too small.

"Oh, it was alright… Same old, same old." She walk into her room to get out of her work clothes before showering to be clean and not deli-smelling for her guests. Luckily we had cleaned yesterday so that everything was ready before she got back because she wouldn't have time after she got back between showering and her getting ready. I went back to finishing the packing while Arry accomplished everything that she would need to do in order to shamelessly attempt to seduce her crush, who is her friend and will be in attendance.

"I see you went to get your hair dyed before your shift this time. How'd it go?"

She flashes a huge grin that displays how pleased with the new colour to her hair. "Yep, I sure did! It obviously went fantastically!"

"That's good." I smile widely at her trying to disguise that I had a dizzy spell and almost fainted in the hallway a little while ago. "It looks fantastic! You made good colour choices this go."

"Thanks! I'm really thrilled about the results for this go! Anyway, I am going to go clean up a bit before the peoples begin showing up here." Heads into the bathroom and closes the door.

Going back to my packing I double check that all of my required documents of international travel were securely packed into my backpack. I pull out my passport to check that it is in fact right. I open it up to that one page where the photo that makes me look like a serial killer. Blonde hair, check. Green eyes, yup. Height in at 5' 4", good. Sophi'Gaelea Mythalen, yup, that is still my name. Birthday putting me in at 23 and a half also a big check mark.

My last name, for my entire childhood, had always been a sort of green card to get anywhere. Oh, you want to go learn at this super exclusive school? Sure thing, would love to have you. Oh, you want to get into this career, let me guide you there. So leaving behind the weight of that name hasn't been easy. At first I had the worst time doing regular things, I had never had to go through the regular channels to get anywhere. Resume? Nope. Never did that. Luckily my trusty best friend/roommate was there to help me learn the ways of the regular people until after a couple of years, she still helps me with a couple of things but I have mostly got the hang of it. I am glad that I can now take care of these things on my own without much help, I have found that it makes me feel more independent from my family.

While I wait for Arry to be finished getting ready I chance heading out to the living room. Walking into the living brings another bought of dizziness but the affect is lessened from before so I just go and sit down in my recliner.

Before too long Arry comes out all ready, and yep, very nicely dressed, but not in an "I'm going to an interview" type way but rather an "I want to show off what I've got" type way.

"So how was your day of productive packing and accomplishing things?" She leans a pointed look my way.

I grin sheepishly, "Well, I did mostly finish packing but overall I accomplished little aside from collecting candy for my grandma." I laugh, maybe a little too much I mostly try to distract her from how face probably looks.

Unfortunately, kind of, when it comes to my health, or rather the health of anyone she truly cares for, she is unusually observant. "Hey… Are you alright? You look as white as a sheet…"

Shit. Alright time to cover up with… "Oh yeah, just a little nervous about seeing my parents that's all. It is also a little bit from this freaky dream I had while I was napping but I don't remember it very clearly…" Usually if I slip in a good excuse and a little bit of truth it sates her curiosity, I know she's just worried about me, but it really isn't anything. I mean what exactly am I supposed to say? Oh no worries I almost fainted in the hallway before having a trippy dream where my grandma told me that I am going to have hardship in the coming time? Because that sounds totally normal and not like I am losing my mind or anything...

She narrows her eyes at me, I know she suspects that I am not telling the whole truth but she lets it slide with "Alright, if you're sure. Besides, with your parents I don't blame you for being nervous, I mean they did cut you off just for making your own choice on what you want to do with your life."

We pass the rest of our time chatting about various subjects like we usually do when we are both in the living at the same time. We did that until the first guest arrived and isn't wasn't long after that there were more people arriving.

A few hours pass of playing Card Against Humanity and a bit of Super Smash Bros. It appears that this week most of my friends couldn't attend. However, my nagging feeling proved itself right as one of Arry's friends, Jordan, brought one of his friends with him. I figured it was likely him and Arry working together to set me up with this guy. Arry seems to think that six and a half years of being single was a little too long, so occasionally she gets together with anyone she can think of to "secretly" set me up with someone they know. Now, don't get me wrong, it isn't like I don't want to be in a relationship with a guy but I just haven't really met anyone that I have really liked so far. As it was, I decide to give this guy half a chance and I stick around for a few rounds of whichever game we decide to play.

After a while I figure that this guy won't work out any better than any of Arry's other attempts to get me with someone. I decide that since I will jetting off the Europe soon I could make use of a reason to escape the social obligation to stay around while Arry and Jordan attempt to force us closer together every other minute. I stand and dismiss myself to kitchen where I covertly sneak further, then down the hall and into my room. The linger dizziness has been steadily becoming more easy to ignore.

I get through the door and I take one look across the unsettlingly clean bedroom, which I usually have in a healthy state of disarray, to ensure that I haven't left anything that I may need before closing up my backpack. I also do plenty of double-checking every other area of my room in order to make certain that I won't have another left such-n-such important item on the other side of the Earth. I see myself in the mirror and stop to see if anything has changed. Nope. I am still just regular old me. Things that my passport doesn't say are how my hair is a nice shade of golden blonde, not platinum or dirty, I notice that my hair seems to have at least gotten a bit longer and reaches down to just above the middle of my back and still holds its array of various shade and tints of blonde from the wheat and gold blonde to a sort of coppery blonde and even a warm brown at the base of my skull where the sun doesn't bleach it. Also my passport doesn't say that my eyes are ice grey on the outside emerald towards the middle and hazel with orange specks in the centre; the passport just says green. If it wasn't already obvious my hair and my eyes are my favourite features of my body. While well-endowed at the chest and with fairly wide shoulders that almost perfectly line up with my fairly wide hips I also carry the typical issues of having slightly too much unhealthy tummy and back flab. I know that all the body positivity stuff is important and that you're supposed to love your body no matter its shape or size but I can't help feeling as if it's my body that keeps me single. I try to do the whole "love your body" thing but I find it really difficult when all my friends and family seem to have at least good-looking bodies. I mostly just hope that if I keep my diet healthy that someday I will be able to accept myself just as I am as impossible as it seems at this point. That and it seems that I can't motivate myself to go get a gym membership to become healthy; at least I have to do plenty of walking otherwise and haven't yet blown up like a balloon.

After a while of relaxing in my room I hear laughing from the living room and feel obligated to at least join for a while until this party-stuff is over expecting to be finished as per mine and Arry's agreement. I come out and take the seat of someone who just got up from the couch and everyone laughs at his loss of seating space. Just a few years ago that alone would have caused me to go completely red but after some training and a few years of being in classes where I don't know most, if not all, of the people there I can now handle myself in most smaller social situations. However, right to the end of school I would still find myself keeping quiet even if I knew the answer because I would feel anxious and start to slightly shake just at the thought of being brought in front of a large class.

After a few minutes I find that the guy Arry's friend Jordan brought has ended up next to me. We engage in the regular type of conversion about the basic things; what are you doing right now, are you working, what about school. We got going about a video game that I am terribly in love with and that conversation went to one that he is anticipating the release of in the next couple of years. Next thing I knew it was time for everyone to be leaving. After many laughs and lots of goodbyes everyone had left.

After the door was shut and locked Arry turns around and approaches me with her signature "you missed something there" look and begins with, "You know, you could have at least tried to socialize with the new people... One of the guys who came with Jordan seemed like your type... I think he might even have been flirting with you a bit." She pauses and gives a decidingly judging look and continues with "And by a bit, I mean definitely without a doubt flirting with you."

Ah ha! There it is. If she said anything after it was drowned out by my internal sigh. I love Arry to bits, she is practically my sister, but I really get tired of her trying to covertly set me up with guys. "Arry, you know how I feel about you trying to secretly get me together with guys. Plus I stuck around for a while and just figured I wasn't catching his eyes. We did have a good conversation but I truly don't think he was flirting. You are just bugging me."

"I am telling the truth! Without any doubt, he was flirting. Plus, even if you didn't 'catch his eye' right away you've got to at least _try_ to get to know _somebody Sophi_..." She looked at me with the most I-am- _not_ -sorry grin that she always puts on in these situations and I can't help be forgive her cause I know she just doesn't want me to be lonely.

"Yeah, yeah... I tell you what... Next time you do this let me know and I promise to try."

"So what you're saying is that the next time I 'secretly' set you up with somebody, you not only promise to go along but to even give them a decent shot at a relationship?"

"What?! That may be going a little far..." I look up to see Arry giving the most pleading puppy-dog eyes that I'd ever seen on her face. "Alright! Fine. I promise to not only go along with it but to give the guy a fair chance."

These words garner the reaction of an instantaneous grin and a more than suspiciously chipper "Yay!"

"Great. Now that I have sold myself to the next man of your choosing, I am going to go finish packing." Knowing her victory Arry pulls out her laptop to begin her nightly Youtube viewing.

I walk down the hall to my room to pack up the rest of everything that I'll need for the trip and to finish packing my carry-on bag from the stuff that I had organized on my bed. I slip the mesh bag for my emergency outfit, the travel size toiletries, snacks and those various articles, including entertainment, which one needs for the ten hour hop over the Pond.

Picking up the backpack with my new snazzy travel boots on my feet I head out of my bedroom with the destination of the front door in order to have everything ready for when Ethan comes to pick me up. As I round the corner to head down the hallway I can hear a really unusual sound that is sort a cross between a sort of charging noise and an electric buzzing, in my head it all added up to Arry watching a video on her computer.

I am about to ask her what she's watching when the dizziness struck with a whole new strength causing an almost resonant feeling inside me before a blinding green flash is followed by a shock wave that knocks me over. Trying to right myself with the spots flashing in my eyes but another explosion puts me back where I started on the floor. Then I feel a breeze that swiftly picks up as though someone turned on a huge vacuum that lifts me and begins to pull me to where the explosion came from where there is still a large green light sparking and shifting. I frantically reach around in an attempt to grab hold of something but everything goes white-green before a strike to my head cause me to sink into harsh blackness.


	2. Gone Wrong

**Here is the next chapter to Sophi'Gaelea's story. Please enjoy!**

 **Also Lady Audentium has updated Arry's story as well, I encourage everyone to read her's as well!**

 **Thank you!**

Chapter 2

My light… The complete blackness began to slide away as consciousness took over, my ears are still ringing from the explosion when my vision begins to return, and I can feel my head throbbing with my heart beat. I slowly open my eyes fully expecting to either be in the ruined apartment or to already be in an ambulance or hospital even, but what greets my eyes is a landscape that looks to be straight out of a nightmare. The sky is hazy green with orange-yellow light that must be some freaky version of the sun. I was hoping beyond anything that this was all actually a dream, but a feeling deep in my gut, which I couldn't shake, said otherwise.

Getting on my feet proved a lot more difficult than I had planned because when I tried to shift into a position to stand up from pain began to radiate from my left leg; there I found a startlingly large hunk of broken wood that must've been blown into my leg during the explosion. Trying to move without using my left leg too much proved much more difficult in execution than in theory, but what was ever easier in execution than theory. Yeah, not much.

As I argued with myself about whether this was or was not a dream I looked around the area where I seem to have landed. Yup. This definitely looked like a nightmare or at the very least an extremely disjointed dream. The ground was a sort black stone and mud that varied in elevation and with puddles or even small pound sized stretches of shallow looking water. There were mountainous looking sections with craggy rocks and even stairs. Only adding to the weirdness were hunks of the landscape and even some structures floating around in the sky and in the distance something that looked like a huge black city loomed over the land with whole towers seeming to float around it. In my immediate area I could see what looked like debris that looked to be my apartment, chunks of drywall and wood scattered about the area even my fancy black travel backpack was on the ground near me which I hobbled over to and grabbed off the ground. But not before having measurable difficultly leaning down without almost losing balance.

I surveyed the debris when I noticed an odd looking lump with what looked like a couple of throw blankets and some of the pillows from the couch. I cautiously limp over to the lump to see what exactly it was. When I got close enough I was shocked to see that the mysterious lump was in fact Arry, a very unconscious Arry. Carefully lowering myself I examine her for injuries, beside a small cut on her forehead she looked relatively unharmed, luckily. I attempted to rouse her from that cozy blackness that I'm sure she would miss just as much as me when I left it, but all my attempts fell flatter than Saskatchewan, or rather the first thing that actually came to my mind which was significantly worse "a few weeks old road kill".

I was disappointed that I couldn't wake Arry, partly because I wasn't sure I could carry her but mostly because it felt unfair that she was able to continue enjoying that blissful blackness that I now miss; the little devil in me wanted her to share in the misery of being trapped in this dreary nightmare world. I proceeded to fish my mini first-aid kit from my backpack to try my hand at cleaning her wound. Secretly I also hoped that the stinging effect of the rubbing alcohol wipes would maybe fish her out of the darkness. But alas, no such luck.

Realizing that no matter how I tried the resilient Arry would not wake, I decided that I should at least attempt at going somewhere. There was what I could only describe as an intense gut feeling practically screaming that I need to leave that nightmare place as soon as humanly possible, rather as soon as injured humanly possible. One predicament however was preventing that outcome, how do I accomplish that with my traitorously injured leg, my backpack and a stubbornly unconscious Arry? I looked around to see if I could spot a way out, I wasn't really sure what that could look like so I just started looking for a big door. There were stairs so it seemed a fair thought that the way out would be a door. Regardless I needed to get moving somehow and go somewhere so I put my backpack on and began to attempt to heft Arry's arm over my shoulder to at least lift her high enough to drag. After I got her arm over my right shoulder with her on my left side was when I realized that perhaps I ought to carry her with the side that didn't have a leg injury and begrudgingly restarted the whole process on the other side. After all that, that damn Arry was still unconscious. What in heck would possibly wake this girl? Jeesh!

After a brief look around, my gut seemed to tell me which direction would be more promising. Since I really had nothing to stop me or tell me otherwise I decided to listen to my deep rooted feeling. My progress was painfully slow, both in that I was moving at a snail's pace and that each step was causing me to consider giving up due to the excruciating nature of having a piece of jagged wood sticking out of your leg. When I had gotten a fairly decent distant away from where I had started and could no longer see any apartmental debris I came limping around a rock and spotted a glaring white-green light just a ways away from where we are now. My mind immediately places the colour as an almost exact match to that of the explosion from earlier. Maybe that can take us home…. I take a few more steps with a very exhausted right leg when Arry decided to finally join me in land of nightmares and opened her eyes.

I set her down so that she could orient herself, my inner devil delightful that she could now share in the misery. She groans and touches her head, I imagine that whatever caused the forehead injury has likely caused a minor concussion and consequential headache, but I am no doctor I just cleaned it up so it wouldn't get infected. She groans before inquiring "What the hell happened?"

"Well... First something in our apartment blew up. It was close to the living room so I imagine you were pretty close. Something got you on the head but I cleaned up the blood. I was coming down the hallway with my backpack and I am not sure what happened after that because the next thing I know is waking up here. Oh, and I maybe have a decently large piece of wood stuck in my leg." I gesture towards my left leg which is still hurting more than anything I have ever felt before. Even my period cramps haven't gotten quite this bad before. Arry's expression changes from mildly confused to shocked to "Holy Shit!" in the span of those words as she looks around and then focuses of the good few inches of wood protruding from my leg and naturally covered in blood, although I am sure that the bleeding has stopped for now... Well, at least until I eventually try to remove it, but I would rather that that wait until I know that passing out won't be a terrible possibly life-ending action. I mention to Arry about how I don't want to take it out until I know that we are at least in a protected spot in which I can pass out safely.

"Jesus Christ are you okay?" She asked in a horrified voice as she removed herself from my shoulder to move around and support me on my injured side.

"Yeah, I'll be okay until we can get out of here. I think the bleeding has mostly stopped for now." I responded and in return she gave me her best disbelieving stare.

"Awesome, so where exactly are we?" Arry is giving me this expectant expression as if I am supposed to know that. This action grinds on my already fairly thin patience.

"Well, I lost my map so..." I nonchalantly shrug, "Do you really think I know more than you in this precise situation? The sky is green and yellow for fuck's sake!" I look at her apologetically I hadn't meant to snap at her but I found it difficult to keep calm at this exact moment.

"Sorry, I guess that one should have been obvious..." She looks around again, I'm sure she is thinking it's a dream just like I did earlier.

"It isn't a dream. At least it isn't so far as I know. I would try the pinching thing but I think that is meant to be a sort of pain test and I can already tell that the whole leg situation is plenty painful to let me know it isn't a dream." I can tell she doesn't exactly know how to react to the information so I just sit and wait for her to speak.

"So what were you doing? Were you carrying me? How far did you go? Especially with a leg wound like that!" Ah, there she is, that is the Arry I know.

I smile at her, "Yeah I knew I couldn't stay where we were, I've got a feeling we need to get out of here and fast... And don't call it a wound... It makes it seem more serious and I would rather not focus on it till I can deal with it... Plus it wasn't too long maybe twenty minutes and it was more like half dragging you using my good side. You did have a pretty bad cut on your forehead but I cleaned that up the best I could using that travel-size first-aid kit from my backpack. I didn't have any gauze or anything so a couple of band aids will have to do. I don't have any clue as to how I am going to deal with the leg thing though..."

"Stop saying 'I will deal with it.' We will deal with it but you're probably right that it should wait. Where were you taking us? There doesn't seem to be any exit signs..."

"Well before I was just following my gut feeling, because I had to go somewhere and didn't know where to start, but I came around that rock over there a few minutes ago and saw that light." I point forward to the white-green light that had caught my attention just before Arry started to wake up. "That looks just like the one that was in the apartment after the explosion and before I passed out, so I figured that it is our best bet to get out of this freaky place right now."

"Alright, let's go. I just want to get out of here... It's really creepy..." Well who would argue with that statement? Certainly not me.

I do my best to help Arry get off the ground without going too fast and she wobbled slightly as she stood but otherwise seems like she is as good to go as she could ever be in our current, and unfortunate, situation. We take to walking as fast as we can go now that I am not hauling Arry along as well things seem to have gotten significantly easier. Not easy per se but easier. Before too long the light is almost before them. Sophi also notices a strangely shaped golden light next to the green-white one that isn't shifting and flowing either. As they get closer and closer it looks more like the shape of a woman. A very naked woman. Then the woman begins to approach us. We both realize quickly and stop cautious of the first sign of life, kind of, that we have encountered in this weird place.

"The Nightmare has noticed your presence. You must leave now." Her voice echoes slightly and seems very serene. She emits a calming and wise aura around her.

Arry steps forward slightly "How do we know we can trust you? We don't even know what you are..." She looks the… Woman? Up and down.

The woman turns to her "I am a spirit of wisdom. The Nightmare has sent demons to find you. You are in grave danger, you must leave."

I look at this 'spirit' "What is the Nightmare? And how are we supposed to leave? We don't even know where we are let alone how to get out."

"You are in what is commonly referred to as 'The Fade' and this is one area that the fear demon known as 'The Nightmare' holds dominion over. The Fade is a place of spirits and as physical beings, you do not belong here and therefore cannot stay. Over here there is a tear in the Veil, which is the barrier that separates the Fade from the physical realm." She walked us to the shifting light, apparently no, it was not a door. Our way out of "The Fade" would be a shifting magical ray of light floating a couple of feet off the ground. How didn't I see that coming, especially after the green sky, golden glowy lady and mentions of demons? Yep. Should've seen that coming. Also there seemed to be images flashing in and out of view through the light, "Not long ago I felt a terrible disturbance in the Veil… It was not from here and yet it was. It puzzled me greatly, so I searched to find the cause. Then I sensed you." She looked right at me, but surely she must be addressing the both of us, right? "Clearly The Nightmare must have also sensed you and decided to investigate for himself, but you must tarry no longer you are in danger here." She gestures to the shifty floating and we both get closer slowly. What if this is a trap? What if walking through that kills us?

The spirit lady abruptly turned to where we had just been minutes before where there was now a sort of black mass moving towards them. "The Nightmare has found us. Make haste!"

I focus on the black mass and see one or two take the shape of a spider, which causes me intense horror, "You said that's the way out, right? Well, let's go Sophi! Right now!" Arry snapped me out of my state of slightly frozen terror and without a second to lose I let her pull me as I hop and hobble on my good leg towards the light with Arry helping me go faster.

"I will stall them long enough for you to leave the Fade!" The spirit sends herself towards the mass as Arry and I get to the light and turn to see but she vanishes in a flash of golden light. We rush towards the light unsure of what to expect but hoping that it gets us away from the threat behind us. We leap through the light and land hard on the ground with everything goes black as my injured leg ends up underneath me.


	3. We Will Survive!

**Welcome Back!**

 **I hope you all enjoy Sophi's story as much as I have enjoyed creating it! Thank you for reading!**

Chapter 3

I feel my mind shaking away the heavy blackness. Well, I wonder how long this will last… I am pretty sure I have had less wakeful time in the last however-long-since-I-got-back-to-the-apartment than I have had time under the blackness that I seem to be gaining a level familiarity with... I peel my eyes open to be greeted with the warm light of a fire nearby.

"Hey…" I turn my head to face where the sound came from. Arry. "Glad to see you're awake. I was getting worried about your leg injury." She rushes over as I attempt to sit up. She helps me get into a sitting position that won't affect my leg. I take a long look at where we are. It appears to be some variety of cave… Uh… Pretty much the only thing to see is rock, rock and oh look, more rock.

"So…" Startled by the croak in my voice I end up in a bit of a coughing fit before Arry brings over what appears to be the bottle of water I had put in my backpack, although the water looks slightly less than clean. I eye it, but trust that Arry has likely already drank from it so it must at least be safe. "Do you know where we are?" I look at her but she faces away.

"Well, no. It kind of looks like the west coast, but there are… Uh… Things… Creatures that I had never heard of before out there. That and I think I saw a dragon flying away somewhere."

"Woah, woah, woah…. Okay, pause and rewind. Did you say dragon? As in a mythological, meaning one that isn't real, that is a flying lizard? Cause maybe I heard you wrong…" I look at her, but she isn't making the 'I'm pulling your leg' face she's making the 'the whole truth and nothing but the truth' face. Well… Shit… "I hope I heard you wrong…"

She looks me dead in the eye, "Nope, you heard right. I am not sure where we are, but I'm sure it's not Canada." She manages a quick, small smile. Shit. Fuck. Damn. Dragon. Shit. Now what? We go about trying to not get eaten by something that in all rights _should not even exist?!_

Okay, okay… Things are evidently not as bad as they may seem. I mean we are alive right? And we are just living in a cave. One of us has a crippling leg injury. No idea where in the universe we are. Drinking questionably clean water. Dragons. Creatures. Death. Destruction. Okay… Maybe they are as bad as they seem. Fuck. Oh but hey, I have my backpack that is full of now meaningless travel documents. And candy.

I look over to Arry, she looks to be deep in thought as well, "So, how long have I been out?"

"Well, it's been a little over two days." Oh my god… I was out for two days? Just for a leg injury. "You were a little delirious yesterday but you weren't really awake. I have gone out of the cave a couple of times to see if I can find anything to eat. Most attempts haven't worked out, but the last time I went out there was some racoon squirrel type animal so I set a trap for it. When it gets light out I am going to out to see if I caught anything… I think I found a berry patch but I never saw anything eat them so I left it alone, it might be poisonous." Yeesh, she sounds so smarty pants with her traps and poisonous berries.

"What about my leg? Did it look serious?" Knowing that before couple of years long year-gap in school she had been going for a degree in nursing I figured she at least had an idea about what was going on my that pesky injury.

"Well, at first it looked really serious, but once I got it cleaned up with that water from your bag and got all the wood splinters out it looked a lot better. I think if we can keep it clean you'll be alright." She looked towards what must be the entrance of the cave. "It looks like it might be getting lighter now… I'm going to head out to see what I might have caught." She stood up dusted off her battered, torn jeans.

"Well, I guess I will hold down the fort." I give my best attempt at a smile, I feel sore spots on my face suggesting that I have scrapes on it. She gives a weak smile back, "Happy hunting, Arry." In my most provoking voice, I hear her scoff as she heads around the bend of the cave, where some light is starting to come through.

After a few minutes I feel the weight of what has happened settle in. Is this even real? How could this have happened?

I feel the familiar sting of coming tears when the thought strikes me, _what if this isn't real?_ I just sat blankly staring at the bloody tear in my jeans where the injury is hidden beneath so torn up strips of cloth. I think about it for a moment, yup, the only reason I am sitting here, in this rock-topia is that stupid leg. I glare right at the injury. Leg, you have betrayed me.

That must be it. This is all some kind of dream. There must have been an explosion, and right now I am in the hospital and this is my brain's way of dealing with the trauma. Yeah, that's got to be it, right? How is there any other way that this is possible? Seriously, that could also explain why I find myself unable to leave here, that would be too much to sew together from fragments in my mind. At least with any convincing look.

I attempt to stand up, but pain shooting up my leg only prevents me from trying any further. If this is a dream it has to be the most vivid dream I have ever had, even more so than that trippy one after almost fainting.

My mind reeled at all the possibilities before it rests on the thought, what if it _is_ real? I shake my head, ahh… I just woke up, my mind isn't working right. That and, I give a pointed look and narrow my eyes to the injury on my leg, my leg has betrayed me. Not to mention that I am stuck in this cave. I glance around the cave. Wow, a cave… Um… Rocks… More rocks… Oh, listen to that! I even heard the authentic echo of dripping water.

Well, that was entertaining. Now what… Well, does holding down the fort really have to include being awake? I mean I can't even walk around… Even if someone were to come in what would I be able to do?

With that having been concluded in my mind a carefully lay myself back down worried about the discomfort of the stone beneath me keeping me awake. However, once my head was down and my eyes closed a soft blackness brought me into a deep sleep.

My dreams were full of magic, demons and dragons flying overhead. Voice goading me, trying to convince me to accept their offers and promises of fame, power and fortune.

The first thing I could sense was the sound of the fire crackling nearby. Using that as an anchor I wrench myself for the sticky blackness that seems desperate to hold onto me. I peel my eyes open which causes the darkness to fully recede and wakefulness triumph. I turn to face the fire where there is some kind of creature in pieces on sticks cooking. Hmmm… I am not entirely sure how I feel about that.

I haul myself steadily into a sitting position and look around the cave to notice an absence. No Arry?

"Arry?" I speak into the cave surprised by the hoarseness of my voice. When there wasn't an immediate answer I raise my voice a touch and repeat "Arry?" This time I see a shadow move at one side of the cave, my heart skips a beat before Arry comes around the corner.

"Yeah, I'm still here." She smiles and moves her arm behind her almost sneakily. "You were asleep again when I got back, I didn't want to wake you up."

I give her a look, "Are you trying to hide something?" She kind of jolts and gives a looks of 'oh shit' before turning away and bringing her arm in front of her.

"Nope, just need to take care of something over here. At this rock wall…" Well gee. She sounds so genuine. It sounds about as true as me saying that I feel like am being pampered at a five star hotel and spa.

"Come on, Arry. I can tell there is something wrong. What is it? Beside the fact that civilization is nowhere to be found."

She turns back around giving a thankful look, "It's just a scratch that I got from a tree when I was coming back here. It's not very serious." She looks down at her arm where she presses a strip of fabric the colour of her torn up shirt "And civilization may not be nowhere. Just before I saw some people. I didn't let them see me though, they didn't exactly look welcoming, what with swords and stuff. So naturally I avoided them." I gave her a questioning look. Really? People with swords? Well I guess they need _something_ with which to fend off the dragons. I'm also entirely certain that they don't just fly down for a quick chat before leaving back to… their lair? A cave somewhere?

"Well… I guess that it can't be all bad to know we aren't the only people around… I mean surely not _all_ the people here would mean harm… Right?" I look at her, and I feel any confidence in that statement just kind of vanish. Shit. I look at the fire, dancing just the same way it does back home. How in God's name are we supposed to survive this? I mean surely there must be a way home, right? We got here somehow and that means there must some way back. I _hope_ there is anyway. I feel my heart wrench tightly inside me, I _hope desperately_ that there is a way home, even if this is a dream.

Arry heads to the fire to grab one of the sticks of whatever she trapped. I then feel something stirring inside me causing a sudden invigorating wave to sweep over me. I see something out of the corner of my eye and for a fraction of a second I thought I saw light at my hands but by the time I focus on them they are back to their normal old selves. Good. The last thing I need right now is to find out that I am having some kind of freakish reaction to this place.

She walks over to me with two sticks of creature and passes one to me before sitting down next to me. We sit in silence watching the fire. I look at the cooked meat that is on the stick in my hand. Whelp. If I don't eat at all I will likely die. I resolve that, just in case this isn't a dream or hallucination, I will do my utmost to remain as alive as I can. Yep. Alive. Hopefully well, but I will settle for alive. I take a bite and pleased to find that it doesn't taste all bad. Bland. But not bad.

Another two days pass in about the same way before I attempt to stand. I manage to get all the way up with Arry's help, but walking was an entirely different story. It must be that the muscles were damaged or at least according to Arry that is the most likely case and suggested we wait another little while before trying walking again. She checked on it at the beginning of each day and before we go down for sleep at night. At my thought of having other people come in while we sleep that yesterday we figured out a system that is based on a trip wire trap that will create a racket if someone passes the threshold of our little rocky shelter.

Arry, has been bringing back enough furry creatures that we aren't starving but I wouldn't say that we are living comfortably. She has been using what little knowledge of hunting she has to salvage as much of the meat as she can, but she has yet to salvage a fur, hopefully she does soon because I am getting back, neck, butt and well _everywhere_ pain from sleeping on the rocky floor of our rocky cave. Maybe I am just being a spoiled city girl. The kind that hasn't ever taken a legitimate camping trip her entire life and knows next to nothing on the subject of "roughing it." I mean when you grow up with enough money to have your own brand new Mercedes at sixteen, why on Earth would you opt to live in the middle of nowhere with no civilization nearby? I mean even if it was only a couple of days. My family's closest idea to camping, is basically going to our lake house in the Shuswap area in British Colombia.

I look around at the cave and the little possessions that Arry and I have in here. Luckily my backpack survived it, boy am I glad that I decided to spend the extra money on the super awesome travel backpack. The bag is dark brown, almost black, leather on the outside and it even has a sort of metal grate preventing the possibility of the contents being stolen via slashing. On the outside I had put several pins to make it identifiable to me, only one of which have survived, the silver Imperial dragon from the Elder Scrolls series. I pull it over to where I am sitting to go over the contents one more time. We have been very careful with our food and are only eating the bare minimum so that any food we have will last, on Arry's insistence, that camping nut. I unlatch the zipper from the clip that is meant to dissuade pickpockets on busy metro systems to reach the main section of the backpack. I pull everything out in the same order I pulled it out last time, arranging everything on the cave floor in front of me.

First of all, most of this stuff is now useless. On the other hand, there are a couple of items that maybe not as useless. I have made a pile for my travel stuff, like my boarding pass. Yup useless. Unless Flight 506 back to reality is now boarding. Travel insurance. Hmmm, now that I think about it maybe if I die here my family can have some kind of compensation… But as for the immediate now it is as equally as useless as that boarding pass. Passport, useless to the exception that if I sustain some kind of head injury resulting in amnesia at least it can tell me the basics of me. Next stuff, iPad and subsequent charging devices along with those to be paired with my phone, which miraculously lives yet. One book meant to last the longer of my two flights, a book about a world ruled by people with silver blood and powers. That at least could be useful to pass time between running for my life and fighting maniacs with swords. Various smaller items like lip chap, hand lotion, ear buds and an eye mask for sleeping on the plane. One item in particular has been most useful, my travel pillow. The last thing is the travel pouch that has one replacement outfit in case of problems en route. Regathering all the items and putting them back into the bag has become something of a science between all the sitting and laying and rock watching I've been getting up to since arriving in this less than near civilization pine forest off a coast.

Over the past couple of days Arry had been looking for places that we could potentially move to if the sword-people get too much closer in the next while. She had found one yesterday that isn't too far from here and is more hidden than this one. We just hope that I will be able to make the trip with my traitorous leg. Her plan has been to move stuff little by little until we can go there as the two of us.

I hear the snapping of a twig outside the entrance of the cave and I grip a large stone to throw at any intruder, when Arry slowly comes around the corner. I relax before taking in Arry's appearance. She is panting as if she had just run a marathon, or two. Her blue and green hair haphazardly placed and her face turning red with exertion. "Arry… Are you okay?" Her slate grey eyes practically bugging out of her face.

She walks in and sits down on her arrangement of dry grass and leaves, "Yep, just ran into a bit of trouble… Namely a bear. I don't think I have ever run so fast in my goddamn life."

I look at her disbelievingly, "A bear?!" Not only that, but she seems to have said it as if it were no big deal. "So how exactly did you escape that situation?" I look right at her.

"Well, it had me cornered, and I think I nearly pissed my pants right before some other people showed up out of nowhere and killed the damn thing. Needless to say, considering that we have been avoiding being seen, I cleared out of there pretty quickly. I even took a really convoluted way back here so that they wouldn't be able to track me back here." She lays back, huffing and panting. "Maybe I should have gone to the running track more often than I did…" Saying that ended the conversation as she immediately fell asleep.

A few hours passed with me putzing about in the cave. Namely me sitting there examining the contents of my backpack cause I can't get up easily without causing my leg to starting bleeding. Again. Traitorous leg. Then I too enter a fitful, uncomfortable sleep. Filled with dreams of chains, shackles and bars that surround me with grand white explosion leaving nothing in the wake.

I wake up and Arry has already left the cave, probably to take things from here to this new location. I groan deeply as I do my best to stretch out the stiffness that I gained. Some of it, however, I am beginning to think has become permanent from sleeping on a giant rock. I narrow my eyes at the empty area where Arry usually sits, usually non-hunter. Ha ha ha, not that I am any better with this fucking leg of mine. Useless blonde.

I look around the cave letting the sleep wear off before I go about my inspection of the goods in my backpack. I am just about to begin my inspection when Arry flies into the cave.

"We are going! Right now!" She grabs what little we have here and comes over to help me up and brings my backpack up to me, her grey eyes lit with panic and fear. "The guys we are trying to avoid spotted me and have been following me. I think I led them the other way for now but we should go to the other place just to be safe."

"Okay, just give me a second, I'll go as fast as I can." I heft my backpack onto my shoulders and try to place some wait on my left leg. Pain shoots from the wound up my spine, I feel myself wince but swallow the pain. If Arry ran here there isn't any time to let the pain get the best of me. Arry won't leave me behind so the best way to make she stays alive is to make sure that I stay alive. I would do the same in her position and she knows it.

She helps me out to the cave entrance so I can get used to walking before I run. The first thing that hits me is the chilling rain that is pelting down from the sky I squint my eyes, not used to daylight yet anymore, even this muted daylight causes my eyes to strain at first. I test my leg again, the pain is still significant but I resolve to not let it stop me from running, if not for my life then for Arry's. "Lead the way!"

She starts off with a good pace but slows up to wait for me to get closer as I slowly increase my speed as much as I can. She led us around trees and up and down, after a while my clothes were soaked through from the increasing rain. I used the cold sensation as an anchor to hold onto to omit the sensation of pain emanating from my leg.

It had been about ten minutes of light running when we hit a slick, muddy slope the wrong way and slid all the way down. Arry hit the bottom and rolled to a stop but despite my efforts to prevent further injury my left leg hit the ground first sending a jolt of sheer, white hot agony through my whole being. My vision turns dark at the edges from the pain for a matter of seconds but I crawl out of it and heave myself back to my feet as Arry comes over. "No, keep going I heard something behind us when we went down." I wave her forward and starting an agonizing pace where the pain in my leg can no longer be ignored.

After another couple of minutes I hear Arry, "Almost there!" I look up, she sounded so far away, but she is right in front of me. I feel nauseous from the pain in my leg. The fall from the ledge definitely did something but I didn't want to look at it until the danger had passed. Not until I was sure that Arry wouldn't be tempted to play the hero, as I am sure she would. I know, without any doubt, that if our positions were swapped and she was the one with a leg injury, I would do the same for her.

She comes over and grabs my arm, pulling it around her shoulders to help me keep going. "I can see it now. We are practically there!" I notice that the rain had stopped leaving in its place an eerie calm as if something worse is just rolling in. "Come on, we just have to get up this rock—" Her sentence is cut off by the sounds of shattering glass all around us, suddenly the area is covered in a dense smoke that makes my brain thick and foggy.

I look around and see people closing in on us, masks covering their faces, I look at Arry, "Arry, go! You can make it if you run! Leave now!" My breath is cut off by an involuntary cough caused by the smoke. "Arry…"

"There is no way in hell I would abandon you here! So if that's you're going to say just shut up!" I see her look around and a series of coughs escape her mouth. I unlatch myself from her and push her to urge her to run away and save herself. My vision begins to tunnel as she bends down to hoist my arm over shoulder.

She rubs her eyes and blinks a few times before attempting to drag me away. The people close in on us, their faces still covered by thick fabrics. One attempts to grab her but she punches in their direction, another goes for me but she kicks at them. Through my blurring vision I see one try to tackle from behind but I use what strength I have to launch myself at them. On the ground again, I try to see where Arry has gone but a sharp strike at the back of my head is the last thing I know before utter oblivion consumes me with no hope of escape.


	4. Or Not

**I apologize for updating a week late! Please continue to enjoy the story. I also recommend LadyAudentium's recount of Arryn Mauntelle's side of the story.**

 **Thank you!**

Chapter 4

Clopping sounds begin to pull me from a deep and grasping blackness. I feel myself being rocked side to side. As the blackness slowly loses its substance I find that I am able to make out more sounds. I attempt to peel my crusty feeling eyes open to no avail. Through the fog in my mind I hear murmuring of a group of people all around me. I try to move my body, but I can't make it listen to me. I look down as far as my eyes allow me to see that I am no longer wearing my jeans and sweater but rather a coarse burlap tunic-like garment.

I don't have any sense of the time that has passed, I am marking any passing time by how the feeling returns to my extremities first, and as it moves up my body to my core. I am sure that there was at least a good portion of time that I was unconscious also, with nothing but a light blackness between myself and reality.

This has to be a dream.

My mind went over the memories of what had happened, most of them drowned out by the memory of the pain in my leg, funny, at the time it hadn't seemed so important but now it is almost all I can remember. I remember leaving the cave, some of running through the forest, a slip down a slope and a cloud of choking smoke. I recall willing Arry to leave… Oh no! Arry! Finally my eyes painfully fly open to reveal that I am alone in a cart surrounded by metal bars. No Arry. What happened? I rake over the memories trying to find something of what may have happened to her, but my heart sinks as I realize that there is nothing but a drowning blackness. I take in more of my surroundings, this mobile cage is covered in some kind of fabric or fur causing stuffiness inside, remembering the smoke my mind figured it must be to keep whatever that smoke is on the inside of this cage. I can now see why moving my extremities has been extremely difficult as my wrists and ankles are shackled and chained to the floor of this cage. Movement is still very difficult but my shoulder is stiff and sore from the wood of the cage I am laying in, and my leg feels swollen and heavy.

In my attempt to move the chains shifted and made a clatter sound. I hear a raised voice from nearby the left side of the cage, following this I hear a horse whinny before the cage lurches to a stop. I roll to the side from the momentum. I hear feet shuffling behind me when the cover on that side is lifted, I do my best to feign lasting unconsciousness as I hear someone unlocking the cage. I close my eyes to fake sleep and I feel someone roughly grab the scruff of the coarse material I am now wearing and drag me to the edge of the cage and toss me to the ground. I can hear the people around me and the sound a metal gliding on something, my stomach turns, a sword being drawn. I test the feeling in my limbs before springing my eyes open. The searing light of a clear day assaults my dark adjusted eyes, but it doesn't stop me from launching myself at the nearest opening I could spot. I look back to see that there is only one cage.

One, and Arry wasn't inside of it. Where is Arry? My heart squeezes painfully, where is Arry? My eyes start to water before I look back forward.

I would like to think that I least would have gotten a little ways if not for my leg, even with the thin straw sandals that have replaced my nice, new, leather boots, but as it is after I look forward and take a couple of strides as long as my shackles will allow my leg hits the ground wrong and seizes up causing me to collapse hard onto the dirt. I try to get up to continue my escape but a pair of harsh hands grip my right arm tightly and throw me backwards. I land on my back causing my breath to be forced out. I turn over to my side coughing in response to the loss of air, past the ringing in my ears I can hear laughter resounding around me just before I end up with a kick to the chest sending further back and into the wheel of the cage. The laughter rings out even louder than before from the other people around me. I also hear them speaking in another language to each other, presumably about me.

I feel a familiar stirring sensation deep inside of me, it is a light. And it wants out. I try to quiet it, to soothe the writhing that has begun.

I look up and around them trying to see past the spots in my vision. They keep talking in the other language, I look up and everything is fuzzy but I can see the shadows close in from two sides and pick me up by my arms and carry me a ways before hanging me up by the chains on my wrists to the side of the cage facing inwards with my back exposed. I hear a snap behind me but I can't turn to see it and when I try one of the other people forces my face forward and down. Rounds of laughter are making the way around the group, how many there are, I don't know. What is causing the rising laughter, I also don't know. Finally one of them speaks English, "If you attempt another escape we will simply repeat all of this. When we reach our destination it will be decided whether you shall be useful as research material for the Elder One's plans or simply for slave work. Either way we will get paid to bring you there, so behave you ignorant southern wench."

I feel a hand pull up the coarse tunic to my neck I struggle stop them but I can't move they must have pinned down the chains between my feet as well. I find that I am trembling in fear of what is to happen next when the sound of a whip cracking on the ground next to the cage paralyzes me. _No, I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming. I have to be dreaming. This can't be real._ I feel the burning of tears building in my eyes. The light writhes powerfully, fear drowning out any attempt to calm it.

All in one second I hear the next crack sound and all I know is the searing pain as the whip tears across my bare back leaving behind a line of fiery agony. Following this I feel blood trickling down my back just before another strike lands home tearing a scream of pain from my lips. Tears are now streaming down my face and limbs are weakened from the pain. Another lash makes all thoughts disappear from my mind. The light roils inside, bubbling closer to the surface with each resounding lash.

I lose count of how many cracks of the whip have landed but my vision is black and the only thing I know is pain, my whole existence is pain. My throat is hoarse from howls of agony escaping me and each lash is now accompanied by a spray of blood from my raw back. My vision is fading in and out. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse the light expands and grows until I can feel it pushing against the surface of my skin attempting escape but my mind instinctively reacts to stop it. However, with each additional lash my mind's resistance against the force of the light grows weaker.

"We shall see you if ever dare to attempt to an escape after this you impertinent wretch!" declared the holder of the whip. I feel the ferocity of this lash down to my bones and my vision tunnels to blackness.

Then the force escapes with all its accumulated fury. I cannot see anything but blinding white light and the release of this power seems almost peaceful as I fall into a hopefully unending black.

I feel the darkness ebbing away, _please be a hospital room_. No such luck though, as my eyes adjust to the lighting I find that I am exactly where I was. I am on the ground, dirt and rocks are surrounding me. I move to get up and feel hot pain sear across my back which dissolves any hope that I had been dreaming. My eyes burns with the sadness and fear of what had happened. The memories of the pain, still all too real and fresh. Laying there, I let the sorrow fill me.

Breathing in I can smell something horrid, but I ignore it. I do my best to remain still. It doesn't last though, something inside me tells me that I need to leave the area, something terrible is coming.

It takes me a while to get moving, so long that the deep grey clouds above me decide to let go of their load and a steady rainfall begins. At first it stings my back but before long it is almost soothing as the fresh, cold water runs down my back, it feels as if it is cleansing the experience making it microscopically easier to handle. I look around expecting to see the people who had been whipping me but when I look all I see are the charred piles of something. I slowly sit myself up each movement brings a sting across my back. I look all around me, on my left I can see what's left of cage I had been in. The cage itself is mostly intact, the area closest to where I am is warped as if a bomb had gone off and the fabrics or furs that had been covering it were gone. I use the warped edges of the cage to help me stand up, my leg flares up in protest but I ignore the pain. I hobble over to one of the charred piles. I try to figure out what it was before it turned into this so I walk around it until I get to the side that is farthest from where I was. My breath catches in my throat and I feel bile rise almost causing me to throw up what little I had eaten the past while.

A person.

This nearly unrecognizably charred mass used to be a person. I sweep my gaze over the area around me. Seven. There are seven other charred masses around where I had been lying on the ground. My eyes travel up to the cage where a charred, more recognizably human shape, against the wall that was opposite from where I had been lying. My already weak legs give out underneath me sending me back onto the now muddy ground.

What happened? I don't remember anything beyond being whipped raw. My mind reels, I have to get out of here. I look around and spot the forest. The sense of foreboding puts itself at the forefront of my mind. I stumble as I get my feet back under me but I am unable to line them up the way they should, the world spinning around me. Hobbling and reaching my way forward into the dense forest. The shadows reach to stop me from escaping but I dodge them to get to the next tree to help me stay standing. Where is Arry? Was she one of those charred masses? Oh god… And how am I here still? The thoughts try to take hold but nothing stays everything is shifting and moving. The shadows grabbing and pulling. No, I have to get away. I throw myself at the next tree, and feel a jab at my side and a small amount of pain but when I turn to look at it the shadows reach to catch me again.

Cold, it's cold. Where am I? One of the shadows reaches for my feet and in my attempt to escape it, I fall forward. Once I am on the ground I find that I can't move any more. My body won't listen to me. Move! I need to get away from here. I need to go home! I get my arm to reach ahead of me and I see something coming towards me. A group of shadows settle around me but the black tunneling around my vision clouds what the spectres could be. Once again I get sucked into the black abyss that was now becoming a warm, welcoming comfort where nothing existed. Not pain. Not suffering. Not loss. Just soothing, empty blackness.

Warm. Warmer than I have been for a long time it seems like. I hear the crackling of a fire, smell the smoke. But it's still dark. The black persists and I can't shake it away. Everything is slow, even the popping sounds from the fire fades in and out. Here there is almost nothing. The occasional sound of flames, the feeling of being warm and a scent, the fire sometimes and others an herbal smell. Memories of pain are just that, memories.

Not only those things, but here time doesn't happen anymore.

When I felt the darkness closing in this time I offered no resistance and slipped effortlessly back into an empty void where even less exists.

 _The ripe canola fields are smears of brilliant yellow out the car window punctuated with the green of flourishing trees and copses of green shrubs, the occasional farm house or barn popping through the image. We come over a rise and the Rockies come into view over the stretches of farmland that are almost ready to be harvested. A sense of relief washes over me, the feeling of home fills me with comfort._

 _I look through the car at everyone present, my family. With me in the back seat sits Ethan, looking out the window next to him. In front of us sit my dad and Elysia. In the front my mom drives and Grandma Ella sits in the front passenger seat. I turn back to face the scenery flying by the window as we soar down the highway to our destination, feeling entirely content with my life. My family around me, the sun shining warmly and no real problems to face. I look at my lap to find that I am dressed in a rough burlap tunic with brutally thin strappy straw shoes. I look up desperately to see that everything else is as it should be. I look back down to see that now blood soaks through from my back and down my arms. I look to Ethan to see that Grandma Ella has taken his place._

 _"Sophi, my dear light." She stretches her hand out and though the distance between us doesn't seem like much she struggles to reach my cheek. I feel a tear slide down my face to meet her soft hand._

 _"What's happened? Grandma Ella, what's going on?" I look deep into her eyes the memories of the past few weeks all flooding back at once. With them a pain begins to spread through my body, chiefly my back and then my leg._

 _I see realization and pain colour her face, "My dear light, I am sorry this happened. You are far from home and life will become difficult. I wish I had gotten the opportunity to tell you about my home, but I suppose it wasn't meant to be." Her voice begins to fade, she still sits so close to me but it's as if her voice is being pulled away from me. "I won't be connected to you for much longer, I gave you all the power that I had and now I am losing the connection to it as it awakens within you." I am struggling to make everything out, the pain is intensifying and beginning to drown out the rest. "My light, you can survive this, I felt the presence of someone I remember and trust, and I reached out to them through you. Please be strong. I may not ever see you again, but know I love you, my light. As does your family." I look around the vehicle, everything outside is now a smoky, perilous black and my family is sitting in the car all looking back at me but they are fading from my view. I look at Grandma Ella, "My light…" Her mouth continues to move but no more sound comes from it._

 _"Grandma Ella! Don't leave me here!" I reach out to take hold of her but just as my hand reaches her and closes, she vanishes. Her, family and then the car I am in all disappear as a sharp and white hot pain takes the fore front of my mind. The pain is only magnified by the sudden introduction of a tearing loss of having the presence of my family ripped away from me._

The next while was pieces here and there, a moment of lucidity where all that existed was pain. My whole body felt as if it were on fire, there were moments where it felt as if my bones were moving and shifting beneath my skin, with only my skin to keep everything inside.

At one point I see shadows moving at the periphery of my blurred vision, "Arry, are you there?" I don't hear anything but one of the shadows hovers over my face. I couldn't tell if they were trying to speak to me or not. Or if they were even Arry, I don't know what happened to her, I just hold onto the hope that she is here too. Before I can decide whether they wanted to help or harm a sudden spark inside ignites a waves of pain and I can feel my body spasm as the searing pain flows through me like a wave of acid. The wave then pulled me under and into the blackness once more.

Time that seemed like weeks passed this way, short stints in an almost awake-like state filled with blank spaces where the pain and the blackness were my entire being and I knew nothing else.

There were times when the light woke as it tried to escape me. I could feel no more foreboding but the light was now restless and seeks freedom. Only the more I resisted its freedom, the more my mind tired.

Once the pain had lessened, not gone only lesser, I found that when I woke up my vision was a bit clearer. But apparently even that came with a price. The feeling of power within me had grown and now it seemed to need me to constantly be trying to contain it. There were times when it felt as if I were trying to hold smoke between my hands only that if the smoke escaped pain was sure to follow.

I opened my eyes, it looked like tent canvas or something over me, and the smell of herbs surrounded me. I felt myself begin to relax. Wait, Arry… I haven't seen Arry yet! I tried to look around my heart beginning to pound inside my chest, I need to find Arry.

My worrying caused the light to boil, except that this time the smoky consistency was closer to that of gas, invisible, but somehow I had to try to stop it from leaving. The bright white light filled me entirely before spilling out of me again when a sort of blue hue light shot through the veil of white. The blue light broke through and began to calm the white light. The blue light had not only that effect but it made the vaporous power turned into a solid that I could easily hold onto inside me. Then my last view was a woman with white hair and yellow eyes, and the feeling that I had somehow met her before. Once again I sank into oblivion.


	5. Wake Me Up

**Hello everybody! Sorry for being absent for so long! Had the worst writer's block. I hope that you can still enjoy Sophi's story. I am hoping to keep up a bi-weekly update schedule from now on. Thank you! Please leave reviews, I love to hear from all of you! Also, don't forget to keep up with Lady Audentium's telling of Arryn's story.**

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Everything began to come back to me. First the sounds of birds outside and the crackling of a fire. Smells came soon after, heady aromas of herbs and flowers mixing with the scent of the fire. Then I found I could open my eyes, I opened them slowly so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed. Once open I see the area around me, there are herbs hanging upside-down to dry other assorted objects were about also most of which I couldn't name even if I wanted to. It seems like the space is some kind of large tent but I am not sure. Altogether it looked like it were the set out of a fantasy T.V. show or movie or something. Looking as far to the right side as I could I see a sort of hanging tapestry, with the image of a lovely white deer with horns the represented by Celtic style knots, that blocks the view of anything beyond it. The floor is made up of a network of furs, to cover the dirt I suppose.

Through my still foggy brain, I go to sit myself up but a voice with an accent that sounds like it could be Irish from far to my right chimes in from beyond the tapestry, "You should stay laying down; your back hasn't healed enough yet." A woman with long silver hair and skin that is a mid-tone olive comes around a sort of room divider inside of the tent carrying a tray full little pots, a bowl and strips of fabric. "I was just about to change your bandages on your back, so I suppose I will have to help you sit up anyway." She sets down her tray next to the bed I am in. Confused for a moment I remember that I had been savagely whipped… Whenever that was… I have absolutely no idea how long ago that was. "My name is Dhaveira."

She comes over to me, "We'll have to take it slowly, we don't want any of the deeper lashes to open back up. It has been hard enough to keep them closed with the change you have experienced." What? What change? Then she leans in to help me sit up and I get a full face view of… Well… Pointed ears. Apparently I am being aided by an elf. Well that's a new one. Not only that but she has some kind of face tattoo, it is an organic design that goes from her forehead to her cheekbone over her left eye and it is a lovely silvery colour. Besides that she has a kind face with rather large, vibrantly green eyes. I mean I have never seen eyes so big before. Nope, shouldn't stare. Staring is bad.

I feel the stiffness in my back and I can also feel the strain so I do my best to keep my movements slow and restricted so as to not cause any unwanted pain. Once I am fully sat up I find I can't keep my hand at bay any longer. It reaches up, entirely of its own volition, and takes hold of the tip of her ear. The shock of what I feel and the gasp that escape her mouth cause me to reel my hand back in.

"Those are real? Not any kind of prosthetic or plastic?" I do my best to look at her but she went to the tray.

With a rather irritated voice she squeezes out, "Why yes, they are real. What else would they be? Not many would want to pretend to be Dalish." Dalish? What on Earth is 'Dalish'? "Now stay still."

Apparently to touch an elf's ears is a social taboo. Oops. "I'm sorry if I offended you. I hadn't meant it that way. I just have never seen ears like yours before."

"Never seen an elf? Huh… So what is your name?" She looks at me before asking me to turn so she can reach my back easily.

I contemplate what to say as she begins working on my back I can feel how stiff the bandages are. "Sophi."

Then Arry comes to the forefront of my mind. I try to look around but pain stops me from looking too far. "What it is you are looking for? You should not push your limits right now." I think about for a moment, if she is here she is likely being taken care of elsewhere, I should wait until this woman… Dhaveira, finishes tending my ruined back.

"Nothing."

As she works there are the slight stings from when the bandages are pulled off, there is a slight burning sensation on my back. I have never had serious cuts like this before so the amount of tending she administers is surprising to me. She takes the bandages away from the bed and when she returns I hear the clanking of what must have been the small pots. Moments later a cooling sensation settled on my back instantly making any pain fade away. Not to mention that I appear to be now not wearing anything, so naturally my arms go to my front to cover my breasts. "The salve should help to heal your back as well as stop any discomfort from the bandages."

Wait she had mentioned something about a change that happened to me. "Hey, uh… A little while ago you said something about a change. What did you mean about that?" I felt a hesitation in her hands on my back as she spread the salve over my back.

"I don't know if I am the right person to talk to you about that. Asha'bellanar offered to take you as a student after you heal enough and I think that she will be able to tackle that subject better than I or any of the other Dalish elves in our clan. Asha'bellanar is very powerful and wise, she will be able to help you learn a lot about magic." Wait, what? Magic? So now we have dragons, sword-wielding people, savage slavers, elves and… Magic. Yep. Well, I guess the average person needs _something_ to combat the swords, whips and dragons, right? She had me lift my arms, that I had kept firmly covering boobs for a solid few minutes now, so that she can wrap the fresh bandages around my torso. "The change you experienced was unlike anything I have ever witnessed."

I think on everything for a few minutes, I mean this is a lot to take in. Even if it's not all at once.

"Asha… What? I'm sorry I missed the last part. Who is she, then?"

"Asha'bellanar is a respected person by the people of our clan, you were losing control of your magic and she arrived to help. She isn't here right now but I suspect she will be back before too long now, especially since you have woken up and are more lucid than you have been for a few weeks." Okay, woah! _My_ magic? Wait… _Weeks_?! Obviously I missed something here. Something big.

"Okay… What? Did you say _my_ magic? Cause that can't be right. I am about as normal as normal can be. No exciting business has ever happened to me… Well at least until this whole fiasco." She looked at me sort of like I had just said something incomprehensible. However she went back to dealing with the bandages behind me. She asks me to lift my arms so that she can rewrap my torso.

"Well, yes, I did say _your_ magic." There was something of a chuckle hidden in the statement. She picked up the tray and came around in front of me. "There, all done. I would say that your back should be healed before too long, it looks better every day I take care of it." She smiles at me, but I see the smile fade as a thought brings a shadow over her face. She clears her throat, "Do you mind if I inquire about how you got such terrible wounds on your back?" She looks me in the eye with concern colouring her own pale green eyes. I go to the memories of what had happened and I feel a chill settle over me.

"Um… Well..." I look into my lap and wring my hands together, "It was a whip. I don't really remember much." I look up at her and she has expression had become a mix of pity and anger.

With a glare at nothing she says through her teeth, "Was it Tevinter slavers?" Tevinter? What is Tevinter? A person, a place? "They just can't stop themselves from hurting anybody they consider inferior."

She begins to walk out as my mind leaps to Arry, she must be so worried. Oh god, I hope she didn't get whipped as well. I hadn't even been clear minded enough to find her before. I lean towards Dhaveira, "Is Arry here?" My heart sinks as she has a look of confusion on her face. What if she is really hurt and hasn't woken up. "Arry is the other girl who would have been in the caravan where I had been whipped, you did find it right?" I see a look of shock pass over her face. My whole being goes cold. "Where is Arry?"

She had gotten to the edge of the room, she put the tray down and turned to face me. "We did find the caravan that had held you…" She looks down, "But there was nothing left of it when we got there. There had been an explosion and everything was either cinders or charred beyond any recognition. Even if your friend had been there…" She turned away. No… Arry wasn't there. She can't have been there. I was alone in the cage. But where is she then? Oh god… What if she's… My mind wanders to the scene when I had first woken up after being whipped. There had been piles of charred people all over… What if one of them had been… Without any warning I throw up all over the floor, which appears to be dirt anyway. Dhaveira rushes over to catch me as I almost fall forwards off the bed. I hear muffled yelling and everything grows hazy. I see other people come into the tent but what happens after that is sucked away into the abyss. The only sound I hear are the echoes of my pained screams as the pain of loss burns through me.

Luckily, as I was tiring of the whole passing out business, this one didn't last long. When I came to Dhaveira was preparing something next to the bed which I was now once again horizontal in. I try to sit up but with the lingering nausea and lasting back pain it was more difficult than I had anticipated. To my fortune Dhaveira noticed my plight and helped me sit up again. She said something about me needing to eat something before passing me a bowl with a steaming liquid inside. I look at the substance and take a few spoonfuls of what seemed to be a soup, but I still felt empty.

Nothing. Nothing is left. I stare at the soup. I am truly alone now. The burning of tears starts in my eyes. Arry is dead. At this point I couldn't stop them. Despite the pain in my back I can't stop the racking sobs escaping me as I mourn my friend.

Finding it difficult to move about very much there were very little options on what I could do. In this boredom I realize that my backpack is no longer with me. When Dhaveira and another, younger, elf come back into the tent with a small meal of some kind of crackers or bread and some kind of dried meat with some water. The dried meat was tough to tear but it had a sultry flavour with the taste of the smoke suggesting the fashion in which it was dried.

My mouth could hardly form words, my chest tight. I whispered to Dhaveira inquiring about my bag but she had no answers for me. When they left I remained sitting upright. The pain in my back only a reminder of everything I no longer had. Friends. Possessions. Family.

I know only that the steady light filtering through the tent's fabrics waned. Turning to darkness. With the daylight leaving I feel the gaping hole deep inside widen, threatening to consume me entirely. Never had I experienced such an encompassing grief.

After some more time passed my eyelids become heavy, wakefulness is leaving me again. This time however it is only because I need to sleep. Consciousness isn't being torn from me this time. I slowly maneuver my way to a laying position that is most comfortable on my back and lay my head down on the rough pillow. I bring the fur over my legs up to cover my torso as well before allowing myself to sink into a fitful sleep.

When I next wake the light is once again filtering through the tent. It feels as if it shouldn't be though. When I notice the pattering sound of rain from outside I feel like this weather is more fitting, imagining that the sky is a bleak flat grey that drowns the colour out of the world.

I lay looking blankly at the plain ceiling of the tent when I hear the fabric shuffling to my right. I drag my attention to where the sound comes from. It is Dhaveira again, coming in with the help of the younger girl again. They bring in the tray of water, bottles and bandages as well as a steaming bowl. The girl carries the bowl to the stone next to my cot before Dhaveira hustles her back out.

"It is time to check your wounds." She comes over and gently places her hands over my shoulders where the wounds had mostly healed. The general cheer in her voice sounds too bright for the way that I feel right now. She helps me sit up again to take the bandages off again. I lift my arms, though they feel heavier than they did yesterday.

Wait, I wasn't even sure that Arry was even in the same place as me. Scouring the memories was hard, especially the parts when I got injured, but I could remember thinking about not seeing Arry there at all. Or even signs of another cage. Maybe there is hope that she could be alive. Somewhere. The thought helped my arms become lighter.

Once she had finished removing the bandages I lowered my arms again. Looking into my lap causes a stray hair to fall into my face. By habit I bring my hand up and start to hook the hair behind my… Ear? What the fuck? The hair falls from my fingers as they travel the _length_ of my ear. _Length_. _Length is not a descriptor that should apply to my ears!_ My hands reach up to my ears and grab hold of flesh and what feels like cartilage that _should not_ be there.

"Oh my GOD!" The abrupt clattering of the glass jars indicate that my outburst startled Dhaveira.

"By the Dread Wolf! What is the matter?" She races around the cot to face me.

"What the hell happened to my ears?!" My wild eyes meet her calm ones. Calm. How can she be calm? Oh… Right, she has naturally _long_ ears.

Although, as she returned to the other side of the cot her face said she had known something about it the whole time. I turn to face her and I see the look of defeat cross her face.

"At least let me work while I _try_ to explain. To explain what we know anyway." I comply by turning so that she can easily reach my back once again. "When the hunters brought you here you were unconscious from blood loss. The gashes made your back look… Well let me say that I will not soon forget the image." She pauses, probably to move past the memory. "We brought you to this tent and laid you on your front so we could tend the wounds. The Keeper himself used magic to mend the worst of the wounds to a bearable point for myself and the other healer." Another pause, this one with a sigh. "We were unsure of whether you would survive the night, but you pulled through. That alone was an amazing feat." She began to smooth the salve over my still raw back.

"The next day you began to stir. You mumbled some words and then the Keeper burst in and told everyone to get as far away from you as they could. He began to weave powerful barriers around you. I had been bathing at the time with my younger sister, the girl who helped me earlier. I could feel the power that began to pour out of you. It was unlike anything I had ever felt." She shuffles the pots around the tinkling sound cuts a break in my thoughts of what she says. "It lasted a while, almost as if it were being kept mostly at bay." Fuzzy recollections of holding onto the smoky power surface in my mind. As does the moment when that power turned to a vapour and I lost control of it. "After a day and a half something changed. I had been tending you at the time and your eyes opened. The Keeper charged in and told me to run, but not before I saw your eyes begin to glow with the most immense power I had ever felt. The air felt as if it had gotten thicker breathing got hard." I did this? How could one person make breathing for others difficult?

"It was then that Asha'bellanar arrived at our camp. There had been legends about her within our tribe. The Keeper greeted her more respectfully than I have ever witnessed him greet anyone. She went into the tent and then everything became calm. After she came out she spoke with the Keeper for a time before leaving again. Arms up." I lift my arms again so that she can begin to wrap me back up.

"I was assigned to tend you for the time until Asha'bellanar returns for you. At least that is what the Keeper has instructed me to do." This pause spans a few minutes where she finishes wrapping the bandages.

"How does all that lead to this kind of physical change though?" It was meant more of a thought than a real question but I get an answer anyway.

"We are not sure ourselves even. Keeper Narthes went to the nearest human city a couple of days ago to inquire about finding texts on the subject. All we know right now is that after Asha'bellanar sealed away some of your power, your body began to change. You grew taller and your ears grew longer. You shift entirely from the physical shape of a human to the physical shape of an elf. The process was long and I could tell it was painful but we don't know what caused it. Perhaps when you meet Asha'bellanar she will have some answers." Asha'bellanar… Hazy memories replay the moment when I felt the power escape me, there had been a blue light… It felt calm and soothing, it had stopped the power. I could not recall anything past that though. It is just the blackness that seems to have pockmarked my memories of the last however long it has been since the explosion at home. Pain has also marred all the memories. Dhaveira finishes wrapping me up and I allow my arms to rest.

Hearing the clinking of the bottles tells that Dhaveira is cleaning up, she sighs, "The change affected your wounds as well. Your skin shifted some and caused the gashes to be altered. They will heal but the scarring will be extensive." Great, a reminder of the one moment in my entire life that I would almost anything to forget. At least it is on my back and not my face. Although I suppose it really doesn't matter. Since no one at home is likely to recognize me anyway.

The next few days pass slowly but tinged with the hope of the possibility of finding Arry, alive. At some points it felt as though it were becoming a fool's hope to think that she could have survived, but even at those points a part of me pushed to continue hoping.

I tried to let my thoughts drift through the landscape surrounding the area. The scenery was a lot like the North American west coast particularly the areas along Vancouver Island. It was humid as well, which would have been a nice change from the arid weather of southern Alberta if the humidity weren't from what seemed like near constant rainfall.

The Dalish camp itself is nestled underneath a group of grand, towering trees that keep most of the rainfall away from the tents. They had brought me some clothes a couple of days ago, a pair of supple leather pants that lace up on the sides and a plain sort of tunic made of a fabric like cotton. It doesn't look much like what they are wearing and I haven't seen any mirrors around so I can't see what I look like in these.

Walking has proven difficult, I find that I am tripping over my own feet and that in general my body feels off, weird and not quite what it was. I mean I suppose that it is to be expected when one's body is stretched beyond where it stopped at puberty's end, which is generally when one's body should stop growing.

Although I imagine that malnutrition also has something to do with it as well as the fact that I was whipped senseless not that long ago and am still dealing with the aftermath. Just looking at myself without a mirror I can see the difference in my size. Where I had been on the cushy and curvier side of average and not quite fat, now I am thin and bony my ribs show through my skin and I am not happy about it. I never wanted to be that girl who was super skinny, so I look forward to the time when I am minimally a healthy size of well fed and not stick thin. I mean there are the people who have trouble keeping weight but I was never one of them so I find that being skinny to this degree is uncomfortable for me. That and I am unsure as to what all has changed concerning my body.

I had taken to slowly but surely moving around, each day I can walk further before I get tired. Although I haven't had a chance to really wash up yet, Dhaveira is saying that my back needs to heal a bit more before I risk getting in the river. She keeps saying soon, but the heaviness of my overly greasy hair gets on my nerves a little more each day that I wake up with hair that is greasier yet. Not to mention what a culture shock it has been learning to relieve myself sans toilet.

I had found a ledge that cascades into a sharp cliff with the sea beating against the bottom near the camp that over looked the coast. To my left the sun is setting, by directions at home I am looking north. These people have all been so kind to me. It helps to forget about what had happened with the slavers, Tevinter slavers. Dhaveira had explained to me that Tevinter is an empire to the north that is made up of mainly mages, yup a whole country of mages, and slavery. Hence the options they gave me of being either research material, for the mages, or a slave, self-explanatory.

I continued to sit overlooking the turbulent waters of the sea stretching out before me. The light was leaving the sky I hadn't looked at the night sky here yet, but it was already surpassing the night sky at home in splendor. All the light pollution from the artificial lights of home that prevented the light of the more distant stars from reaching the ground. The stars already visible without even complete darkness is astonishing. There were already more stars visible than I had ever seen, even when I had left the city to the country to minimize light pollution. Although seeing as there are two moons in the sky now which would also affect how many stars are visible. That's right, two moons.

I heard the snapping of a twig behind me, I turned around as fast as my healing back would allow. I see one of the Dalish men walking towards me with a small torch. I believe his name is Himsulem, he has bronze hair and pale skin with a brown face tattoo that is made up of flowing vines that span his entire face. I know exactly why he is coming too. He is very close with Dhaveira, married or whatever the equivalent is, and I have neglected having my bandages changed today meaning she likely sent him to retrieve me.

A lot of them keep saying about how Asha'bellanar will be coming to collect me soon, but they always made it sound like I was some kind of product on the shelf that she desired and had put aside for pick up at a later date. I admit the more I learn of this Asha'bellanar the more uncertain I become about what she is like. Mostly I still want to suddenly wake up in a hospital surrounded by my family to find that this has all been a dream during a coma. Each day that passes pushes that possibility further away though, the more I learn and experience here the more real this place seems to be.

Himsulem approaches me, "Dhaveira asked me to come collect you to have your wounds redressed." This man is nice enough but like some of the other older people in the clan he seems to have an innate distrust of me for some reason.

"Okay, I guess there's no sense in putting it off." I slowly stand up, he doesn't offer any help, none of the elves who display the distrust of me help. I walk steadily over to the tent where I had been put up. All the kids in the encampment seemed to be excited about me being around, which displeased most of the parents. However not all the adults were the same, some of them were like Dhaveira, kind and understanding. There were a couple that even treated me with a level of reverence, which I found weird but accepted as a custom or something.

One other thing I have noticed on the people here is that every adult and some of the older kids have the facial tattoos. There is even a fairly decent variety of the tattoos. I asked Dhaveira about them and apparently they are some kind of devotional type thing to one of their gods.

When I walk into the tent, which is actually quite spacious for a tent, Dhaveira is already waiting for me. She thanks her husband and he exits with a grunt. She makes a dissatisfied look at his back as he exits the tent but he never turned around to see it.

"It's about time I got you in here." She sounds irritated but her face is smiling, I think that she is glad that I have taken to get up out of the bed the past couple of days. Although she can also tell that I am still not very well, physically or mentally, at this point. "Alright sit down so I can take care of your back some more. I think that we will be able to take you to the stream to clean off soon." The sound of that filled me with a slight sense of relief, at least I could be clean here.

She starts to work to take off the old bandages. Even since the last time it has gotten easier, the bandages stick to the scabbing tissue less and pull at the healing skin less when being removed.

"Dhaveira, why does he dislike me? I have also noticed a few others around who seem to be sympathetic with him." So as not to interrupt her work I stay still with my arms raised as she unwraps the dressings from around my torso.

"When you unconscious after the hunters first brought you here your magic almost went out of control. It was very scary to those who are unfamiliar with magic, even among the Dalish there is fear of mages and their magic." She finishes unwrapping me and I lower my arms to cover my breasts, we are both girls, luckily, but I am still a little uncomfortable with being so exposed. "Anyone who knew a single thing about magic though would have been able to plainly see that your magic is entirely different from a regular mages magic. I imagine that is what drew the attention of Asha'bellanar to our camp." So they have a fear of what I could have done to this place. I guess I kind understand where they are coming from then. I still don't like it though because I know I wouldn't do anything to hurt, well anyone really, but that doesn't mean that they know that.

I look into my lap. My magic. _My_ magic. No matter how much I thought of it the concept of me actually having magic is baffling. Not that I could tell. I had tried to float things or cause other magical things to happen but I could not get anything to happen. At this point I am kind of doubting the existence of this whole _my_ magic but Dhaveira insists on the fact that I have it and just need to learn. Which is where this Asha'bellanar comes in, apparently.

"Dhaveira… Can I ask a favour of you?" She had turned to grab another ointment so I turned as much as I could to face her and look her in the eyes.

She looked at me with a look of slight shock, I had never asked her much of anything, I usually only really listened to what she said to me. "Of course, Gaelea." I had asked them to start calling me Gaelea because I found that my name had been becoming a source of pain, everyone who had called me by 'Sophi' were now well beyond my reach. Some, gone forever. With that reasoning I had abandoned the first part of my name and now went by the name that seemed to fit in better among the other elves. In fact Dhaveira told me that the name 'Gaelea' sounds like a mix of the word for pure or absolute, and the word for light. Here my name means 'pure light' which is the meaning Grandma Ella had meant it to have. "What is it you would ask of me?"

She motions for me to turn around so she can put on the salve before putting some clean bandages on. "Well, I would like to see I could find my friend's body at the place near where the hunters found me." I look down, once again tears threaten but I know that I can't let myself breakdown every time I think of Arry and her death. Doing that here may very well get me killed someday.

I sit as still as I could while she spreads the soothing slave across my ravage back. While it has gotten so much better it is still very sensitive to most pressure and the ointments that Dhaveira use still make a huge difference.

"Hmm… Well, I cannot see why we would not be able to do such a thing. However, the decision does not lie with me, it lies with the hunters who would be responsible for the journey there. I will ask them and petition on your behalf."

I think about what this could mean, I hope that if I can go find her body maybe I could get some kind of closure and be able to readily move on. And survive.

"Thank you, Dhaveira." I look down unable to keep my voice from cracking slightly and not wanting to give in to the grasping depression, despite the hole in my chest that sometimes makes it hard to breathe.

Dhaveira wrapped my torso back up, "Your back has made excellent progress in healing. I imagine that before too long you will be able to wash up and clean your hair." Her saying that was like music to my ears. She had helped me pull my hair into a stiff braid but I deeply longed to have it clean, perhaps then I could clear some of the anxiety I am feeling from being here.

She collects the jars again and walks around the bed to the room divider that hides the tent entrance leaving me alone to get my tunic back on before going to bed. I know Dhaveira was just trying to cheer me up and it helps that she tries.

I snuff the candle that is left to light the tent and lay down under the furs of the bed. I lay mostly on my side to avoid hurting my back. On the brighter side my leg had pretty much entirely healed since it got proper attention. Rather than the shoddy care with sea water and torn up shirts. But I mean I suppose that's to be expected. Healing under those conditions is too much to ask of any traitorous wound.

Laying in the bed I close my eyes and hold on to the hope of being taken to find Arry's body as an anchor to fall into a sleep as comfortable as I can get in this shitty situation. I am thankful for every moment of deep sleep that I can snatch. Maybe if I'm lucky I will wake at home, sweaty from this nightmare, but home.


	6. A Whole New World

**Hello everyone! Thank you for sticking with my story! I really appreciate everyone reading this and I hope that you continue to enjoy it. I have been picking up in my writing so I hope I can continue to do an update every other week. Again, I love to hear from you, please leave a review! Also keep up with Lady Audentium's story on Arryn and her new Zevran story that is based in the same story universe as Sophi and Arry.**

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Another couple of days pass slowly, I am comforted only by the thought that I could at least find Arry's body and say goodbye. So long as they decide that that kind of a trip would be okay. In this I am totally at their mercy. There is no way I would be able to go on my own, so if they decide that they don't want to risk it I am S.O.L.

Ha, maybe if I am lucky I'll die on the way there. Death, I feel would be a welcome embrace after all this pain. The needless hope of finding her alive brought with it only irritation. The more I learn of this place from Dhaveira and some of the other elves the more I realize that it is beyond any rational logic to hope that Arry could have survived this alone.

I spent most of my time on the ledge watching the sea undulate below, I learnt from Dhaveira that the region we are currently in is called the Storm Coast, which is a suiting name as it is either raining or looks like it is about to rain. I had been learning lots from Dhaveira lately, mostly about where we are, a continent called Thedas, and this is the northern most area of Southern Thedas. She has also taught me a few things about how Dalish elves live, their customs and their religion even. Luckily for me I had always been a quick study, able to pick up almost anything that I put any amount of effort into.

Also, as it turns out Dhaveira is a mage who was trained by the Dalish Keeper. Apparently, there is a tradition or something where the Keeper trains a certain mage to follow in their footsteps but Dhaveira proved that she was more adept at healing magic, potions and salves so she was given that task.

Looking out to the sea I can spot some distant areas where the sun is piercing the cloud cover. With the islands that can be spotted in front of and behind those loosely clouded areas a truly picturesque image is born. This is a moment when I wish that I could have a sketch book and drawing materials.

The sounds of the twigs behind me snapping draws my attention and I turn to see who is approaching me. Dhaveira comes forward, sits herself down next to me and looks out to the beautiful scene that evolves with each passing moment.

"The hunters returned just a little while ago." She says it with some note of hope.

"Yes, I saw the aravel arrive." I had learned that often the Dalish used contraptions to travel that look like small sailboats that are actually carts on the bottom. They are called aravels.

"They brought news from the location of the explosion. They say that there are signs of activity there and that they lead away from the site." My heart skipped a beat. What was she implying? "They came back to confer with the Keeper about what they can do next and since you are nearly fully healed, they have agreed to take you to explore where these tracks lead." I feel the gears in my head start to turn as mind reels at how many possibilities that means. The one that grabs my attention and holds it is, maybe Arry wasn't a part of the same group, that we had been separated before the explosion!

I look at Dhaveira and I see her face changes as she sees the hope light up my expression. I may not be alone! I need to find Arry.

"When do we leave? Today?"

She laughs musically, "Not today, it will be a couple of days at least for them to decide whether to go and then another couple of days before a travel party will be ready to leave. In the mean time, the Keeper want to know at least how to defend yourself long enough for help to arrive. Himsulem offered to help you learn the basics of sword use, as Asha'bellanar sealed away a good portion of your magic."

Somehow I doubt that Himsulem's 'volunteering' to help me learn swordplay was in some way less being a volunteer and more being a 'volun-told.'

"Himsulem will start teaching you the basics tomorrow. However, today we get to wash your hair." Oh my god… She said we can _finally_ wash my hair. Things are finally looking up in this nightmare of an experience.

Dhaveira asks me to wait outside of her personal tent for her to grab a few things to use for cleaning one's self. When she emerged, she had a pouch that appeared laden with objects. Then she told me to follow her to the waterfall and pond nearby that has been being used for personal hygiene. While hygiene didn't seem to be a priority within the clan it was not disregarded entirely, for which I am beyond thankful for. Although 'waterfall' and 'pond' didn't make it sound warm and comfortable.

When we came through the line of trees and bushes, that block the view from the camp, a lovely short waterfall was revealed. Beneath the waterfall instead of turning straight into rapids the water is being captured by a dip in the land that is making a decently sized pond before the water continues its trek downward to the far-right area of the pond.

Another group of the Dalish women were already at the pond and our entrance caused them all the look over. They appeared to be in pairs helping each other wash, it seems there is some kind of system to bathing… And I probably threw a wrench right into it by popping into their camp so unexpectedly… And loudly. However, their attention went quickly back to the task at hand rather than having their attention linger on me. Another thing to be immensely grateful for. Dhaveira guided me over to a place where she says that I can disrobe. Great… I was never really fond of communal bathing… But I guess 'When in Rome…'

I had noticed that recently my scope of movement has improved quite a lot. Getting the lace-up tunic off proved easier than it had been so far. Bending down to remove the pants was still slightly difficult, the movement straining the scabbed-up wounds, but I found that I didn't need any help from Dhaveira at all. Which feels like a huge achievement after the almost week that she has had to help in and out of the clothes I had been wearing.

My wardrobe now had two pairs of the supple leather pants, three shirts and a pair of boots. All of these, I had been informed, had been traded from humans at the cost of the clan. Hence why they look different than the sort typically fantasy elf clothes they wear that seem inspired by nature and leaves… Yes, very stereotypically elf. I wish I could think of a way to pay them back. They have done so much for me already. I have been doing my best to help with what I can, which has opened my eyes to a stark truth. I do not know much of any truly practical skills. Luckily Dhaveira and some of the others have been willing to help me.

I turn around to see that Dhaveira is already in the water and making conversation with another of the pairs of women nearby in what I had learnt to be Elvish… Or I think they also called it Elevhen… I carefully walk over to the slope where it looks easiest to enter, trying not to make a fool of myself. In which I succeed, despite the fact that I had been right. The water while not glacially cold came to a chilling degree, it felt almost like when you first fill up a pool and you don't wait for the water to warm up before taking a dip. The water at the deepest reaches to about my waist, so like the other women my chest is exposed. They don't seem to have a problem with it, so I try to keep covering myself discreetly.

I have noticed that my body, while it seems to have decided to assume the appearance of an elf, it doesn't have quite the same bone structure as the others. Although I attribute that to the fact that for the first almost twenty-four years of my life were spent in the body of a human. I resist the urge to reach up and touch the points I knew I would find there.

Dhaveira comes over and I can see that she had placed the pouch on a nearby stone out of the water. "Let me see your back, I need to see if it is healed enough to fully submerge it." Oh, boy… That sounds cold. I turn so that she can examine the wounds on my back like she had so many times already. "Hmm… Yes, I think that they are healed enough that it should not cause any problems to immerse your back. It may even prove soothing." She begins to work at disassembling the braid before asking me to… Of all things… Totally submerge myself in the unpleasantly cold water.

Okay… Okay… All you have to do is take a breath and… Nope. Got to try again. Deep breath and… Oh my god. So cold! I know the whole Canadian thing about being impervious to cold water. But never have I been able to easily submerge myself in any water that had at one point recently had likely been ice. Polar bear plunge? No sir.

I lift my head out of the water. Feeling the shivering settling throughout my body I look over at a smiling Dhaveira, at least she seems to find amusement in my acute shivering. She wades over to the edge where the pouch of bottles sits, she beckons me over. Knowing that the air will only make me feel colder I remain with my body up to my neck underwater. However, Dhaveira had other plans… Namely washing my hair, which is more than enough to lure me out of the water. Although the water alone has already done wonders to begin removing the dirt from my hair.

"We make the soap out of certain herbs, oils and a specific stone that bubbles up when massaged onto or into something." I hold my arms covering my bare chest, looking down I can see the signs of malnourishment persisting despite being able to eat more lately. The sound of a cork being dislodged from the flask draws myself out of any thoughts about my current appearance. The sensation of her hands massaging the soap into my hair and scalp allows any unhappy thoughts to be snuffed, for the time being anyway. The scent of the soap is that of a scent similar of sage or sweet grass, it reminds me of the scent of a smudging stick; at a celebration at my university they did a smudging ceremony before starting to cleanse the area. At least, that is how I understand that it works, I don't claim to be any kind of expert, only that someone explained it to me briefly as I saw the smudging be done. As she works the soap into a lather she begins to hum a tune that she must know very well. The tunes lifts and lowers in a lilting melody, before long some of the other girls and women had joined in the tune.

As the soap goes through my hair some of it slides down my back. It causes some stinging but it helps me to evaluate how injured my back still is. All in all, it feels like it is almost entirely healed. I look forward to a time when tending my back is not something that I have to worry about.

She asks me to lay back my head so that the soap can be rinsed out. I lower myself and lean my head back to look at the sky, pockets of bright blue break through the wispy edges of the roiling clouds. Well at least the colour of the sky is the same. Although I suppose that does come from oxygen in the atmosphere, so if the sky weren't blue then I guess Arry and I would have suffocated long before any of this shit could have happened. Huh. Never thought that perhaps suffocation could have been a no so terrible option, compared to that of being savagely whipped and having your body morph to a point where your parents probably wouldn't recognize you that is.

I let myself fall into how relaxing it can be to have someone else wash your hair. I could feel my hair losing the weight of the grease that had developed in the time that I been in this place. She had me raise my head out of the water to apply another substance to my hair. This one smells about the same with some variation, it almost smells as if there is a hint of lavender in it. My mom loves the scent of lavender. My heart clenches and I wrap my arms around myself if only to keep myself from falling apart. I will not see her ever again. I will not see any of my family again. And the possibility of seeing the only person who was here with me is dimming with every day that passes. I close my eyes to shut out the world, the world is painful.

An echo of a voice gets me to lower my head again. The cold goes almost unnoticed, but it is enough to pull me from the hole that keeps growing deeper inside of me.

After Dhaveira finished helping me she got one of the other women to help her get cleaned up. Finally, my body had acclimated to the chill in the water so I found it bothering me less than before. While I wait for Dhaveira to get cleaned some of the younger elf girls come over to me. First they pepper me with various questions. Where did you come from? Why don't you have any Vallaslin even though you're grown? A few others along those lines before, "Will you play with us?" is asked.

Despite wanting a few minutes to relax I comply with the kids and wade a little further into the middle with them as they explain the rules of the game to me.

Sweat slides down the side of my face leaving a trail of momentary coolness in its place. God, this is difficult. I gather my composure and fix my gaze on Himsulem as he begins to stride forward again. I grip the solid branch in my hands as he makes moves to attack. Watch his feet. Don't forget to keep an eye on his eyes, where he is looking. I try to focus on him past my panting, exhaustion already gripping me. Although I have lasted longer today. Each day has been slightly easier, not that fighting an expert could be easy at all when you know nothing. I dodge his first slash in my direction, the movement with my own feet is becoming more fluid. I raise the branch to parry his next blow. My legs shift to accommodate the impact almost on instinct, already. I follow the movement in his hands and suddenly I am looking at the grey sky with a soreness radiating from my hips and my right ankle.

"You forgot to watch my feet again." I could hear the tone the almost sounds irritated but somehow satisfied. What could he be satisfied about I wonder, as I grip his extended hand. "You are improving at an incredible rate though; I can't say I have ever seen someone get this good after so little training."

"Gee. I feel so much better. You still knocked me off my feet so basically there's no hope yet." I brush the damp dirt from my pants.

He scoffs, "Alright, tomorrow we will work on what you can do from the ground then. But for now, it is the Keeper's turn to have your time." How on earth do they keep track of the time? "Also don't forget the Ways of the Hunter." I can't even see the sun! But if Himsulem says it midday then that's what it must be. I trudge over to the tent that I had begun to call my own to clean up a bit before going to the Keeper. The Ways of the Hunter… Right. That. Um. I think it was kind of about being fast and quiet while not letting your prey suffer… Another about being resilient by yielding in certain ways. And one more… About respecting nature?

The more I work physically with Himsulem the more comfortable I become in my new shape. There are even times when it feels like this shape is easier to move with. Rather it feels more natural, as if it were the body I should have gotten instead of the one I had before.

The training is getting more difficult each day, but every morning when I am running myself hoarse and end up drenched in sweat I think of why I am doing this. I need to find Arry. I need to survive until I can find her. Alive. The stronger I can be then, the more I can do to save her. I shudder at the thought that she could be being treated with the same malice I was, being savagely whipped and beaten just for trying to continue to live.

Moving the tent flap aside to enter the space my back aches from the memory of being whipped. Over the weeks it has taken to get to this level healed, with the help of a small amount of magical healing- yep, magic does that too apparently- the depression I had been experiencing as a result of the whipping has evolved into a blind rage. The aches I will likely have to endure for the rest of my life, however long that may be, bring me to a seething halt at the side of the cot. Fury fills me tightening my chest. I place my hands on the bedding straining to calm the tempest of emotions. Through the hammering of my heart, I clench my fists tight enough for my nails to bite into the surface of my palms.

The familiar light sparking to life inside me is the anchor that helps me pull myself from the anger.

"You must learn to control the rage developing inside of you. It will prove more of a hindrance the further along you go." The composed voice of Keeper Narthes bring me flying back to reality. Almost instantly calming the raging tide of hatred and animosity.

Turning to face him, "I know. I just can't help but feel angry when I think about what they did."

Stepping forward he places his hand on my shoulder in assurance, "Yes. What they did was abhorrent, but they have paid the price with their lives." I remember the charred, stinking corpses that had surrounded me. "But you must move past that now. Those feelings will only cause rage demons to come to you." Right demons. Real things now. Real things that will legitimately try to possess me, if they are given the chance. Said chance being allowing myself to be overwhelmed by my emotions and letting a demon in to 'help' me. I look to the floor and nod, "We will delay your lesson for today. Take a break before coming over to my tent." He strides out of the tent, leaving me in silence.

Having been told to pretty well have some relaxation, I change out of my sweaty clothes and put on some robes that the Keeper had brought to me when he had returned from a nearby town.

Apparently the Dalish are a sort of nomadic people that generally keep to themselves. They live in various tribes throughout 'Thedas' but each of the tribes does everything on their own generally keeping separate even from each other. The Keeper has said that the elves used to have a grand empire, Arlathan, ages ago and that the Dalish try to emulate what it used to be.

The Keeper says that this particular clan of Dalish, Isenathavhen, are not against dealings outside of the clan and with humans. Although it seems that some clans are totally withdrawn from the world, feeling that it is the best way to be faithful to the ancient elves and the Evanuris. Yeah… Evanuris. It is even spelt the same as the research company my family owns. Except here, instead of a scientific research company, Evanuris refers to the pantheon of seven gods that the Dalish worship.

I pull my boots on and walk back out of my tent. I walk through the camp, some of children use me as an obstacle in what must be a kind of game like tag. I smile as they run off through the camp. They seem so care free even though they are in a world of danger and magic. The other people of the clan have been warming up to me over the past little while and it becomes evident when people greet me as I go walk by. As I usually do with time that I am not doing anything I go over the cliff that overlooks what I have learned to be the Waking Sea. I find that watching the waves on the sea calm me. It must be what people must be talking about when they say how soothing the ocean can be.

When I find that I have calmed down enough, every time I must it gets easier, I stand back up and stroll to Keeper Narthes' tent.

At the beginning of my 'lessons' he explained that the Dalish tend to teach magic that is deeply rooted in nature in the attempt to get closer to the image of Arlathan. While I excelled at learning the magic involved in elements and some of the basic combat spells but despite all my best efforts I find that no matter what I do I can't seem to figure out the healing spells… At all. Fire? Yep sure, I can get that no problem. Ice? Sure, figured that out. Lightning? More difficult to control, but figured that out too. But the secret to healing injuries is a mystery that eludes me.

Although it seems that in respects to magic the Dalish's magic seems to center a whole lot on healing magic and the more practical kinds of magic. They have been teaching me the basic of control mostly though, like how to create a fire without exploding anything. It was difficult at first but I caught on quickly. In fact, the Keeper and the other Dalish mages seem to think that my rate of progression in the skill to use my magic is astonishing. Similar to what Himsulem says about my combat based training.

Today during our lesson though one of the hunters came in to the tent bringing an abrupt ending to another failure of a healing magic class. Sending a silent thanks to whoever might be listening I walk out of the tent after Narthes dismissed me.

After that I walked around the camp helping where I could, before going to the open area where Himsulem usually trains me to work on my forms and strength, luckily he had made me repeat the movements so much my body would make them easily. Each motion smooth and fluid. As I repeat the motions I thinks about how quickly they have become natural to my body. Maybe it has something to do with the change of my body but I have never picked up a physical skill so quickly. Mind, I never really tried before this point, so perhaps the potential was there all along and I just never had the motivation to learn quickly like this before.

Another that I had noticed is that my hearing and vision had greatly improved. I could see farther than ever before and the things at a distance were clearer, I could pinpoint details miles away. My hearing had become so sensitive that I could hear the snapping of twigs in the forest far away and the breathing of the animals nearby, well, when I focus anyway.

On my own I had been practicing at listening while fighting. Maybe I should have asked Himsulem to help me, but there is the stubborn me deep inside that wants to say that she figured it out on her own. The sound of raised voices draws my attention toward the camp. I stop and turn to face the camp, and I begin to make my way back to the camp to see what the fuss is.

On my way in I come across Dhaveira, "Dhaveira, what's going on?"

She looks at me, her expression almost solemn, "There is some news, the hunters found a place that may have been where another group of Tevinter had holed up. They are just…" I don't give her a chance to finish before I break into the fastest run I can manage to get to where the discussion is so that I can try to convince them to allow me to help find Arry.

I arrive at camp out of breath and spot that the commotion appears to be revolving around the Keeper's tent. Everyone seemed to be trying to listen without seeming too obvious. Before I get too close I can already hear that they are debating whether to go. I feel my heart go cold before sinking in my chest. They are debating whether or not to go find Arry. No… No, I need to go find her. I clench my fists; I _have_ to go find Arry. I turn my walk into a stomping march into the tent.

"There is no point in risking the lives of our Hunters and kinsmen for that stranger! By Fen'Harel's bones, we don't even know if we can call her elvhen!" is all I hear before storming into the tent.

"THEN DON'T!" I yell into the space. I wait to make sure that every person present is listening. I look up, some faces shocked and angry, others sympathetic. "If taking me somewhere is such a hazard to you and yours, then don't. I will go by myself to find Arryn." I can feel the anger constricting my throat and causing tears to well up in my eyes. If they are so against me than I can go out on my own, who cares if I live, I need to find her and I will do it on my own. "If my existence is such an _inconvenience_ then I will move on alone. If I leave you won't have to keep up your bargain or deal or whatever it is with this Asha'Bellanar."

Dhaveira races in behind me, "If you go alone you could get killed! You are not strong enough to do this on your own."

Keeper Narthes looks at me, "It is true that you are not of our clan. It is also true that we cannot be certain of your origins, but Asha'Bellanar gave us the task of readying you for further learning under her care." He looks around at everyone present. I want to say that he is going to side with me, but I simply do not know these people well enough to make a judgement call like that. That fact creates a hollow in my stomach until he speaks again. "And so, seeing as Gaelea will go whether we accompany her or not, it is in our best interest to help her. I do not wish, however, to force any of those unwilling to aid Gaelea, therefore only those who volunteer to help will travel with Gaelea."

Gaelea, it is a name I have always had. But I have never used it for others to address me by. I felt that here, with these elves I should use a name that is more elf sounding and according to Dhaveira and the Keeper the name 'Gaelea' means pure light, just as Gramma Ella always intended.

I look around at the people in the space. Everyone else's eyes move over the others left with the decision to aid me or to keep themselves and perhaps by extension their families safe.

My heart swells as I see Dhaveira step forward, "I will help Gaelea."

After she stepped forward to volunteer a few others step forward, I count four others who step forward including Himsulem. The Keeper dismisses everyone else to have it so that there are just the six of us left in his tent. Dhaveira and Himsulem stand together, next to them a couple of the hunters, both men, and a female warrior. The two hunters name were Marron and Arethen, the warrior, Ilyriane.

Marron had light brown skin and ashen hair with the same purple eyes as Dhaveira. He has facial tattoos, Vallaslin, that feature antlers over his eyebrows and an arrow from the bridge of his nose to the middle of his forehead. He is of a slight build but strong nonetheless, slightly shorter than I am, evidently he was built to be sneaky and quiet making him an excellent hunter.

Arethen has paler skin with brown hair that shines auburn in the light with deep blue eyes. His Vallaslin are the same as Marron's. His body has a thicker build but he has a lightness in the way that he walks, he reaches to about my height.

The female warrior's name is Ilyriane. She has long sandy brown hair that is in long braided plaits. Her Vallaslin look like tree branches spanning her forehead. She has a build that reminds me of a less imposing version of Brienne of Tarth, it is easy to see why she became a warrior. She stands about half a foot taller than I do.

The Keeper thanked them for stepping forward and said to us that we should leave tomorrow and to go prepare.

I have worked jobs where I have to stand on concrete for eight hours. But never have my feet hurt this much. If I didn't know better, I would say that my feet were being dipped into the fires of Mount Doom. We have been walking for three days in a row now, mostly through the forest but yesterday we came to a road. Yesterday evening we went an hour or so away from the road to set up camp. However, the elves just continued along unaware of my plight, not that I want them to know that I desperately want stop because my feet hurt. Although I am almost entirely certain by this point they have realized that compared to them I am a pansy-ass city girl.

Himsulem and Ilyriane have been giving me pointers along the road and in the early evening after camp has been set up they take turns actually training me. Ilyriane commented on how quickly I have been advancing in the use of swords. Dhaveira also gives me pointers on magic and how to control it as well as channel it.

The scenery hasn't changed much since we started travelling we have been travelling east, although where exactly we are going I haven't the faintest idea. The land is craggy and hard; the sky still releases more rain than any place could possibly need. Luckily for me the Dalish know their stuff and gave me a sort of travel cloak that repels the water better than anything raincoat I ever owned back home. Occasionally I can spot the sea to the north through the vast forests of pine and spruce trees. I tend to pass the time travelling by either looking at the rocks, the sky or the ferns on the side of the road. Not that it helps with the boredom of simply walking for hours and hours and hours. I thought it was bad to be on a lengthy road trip in a car. Compared to this a road trip is easier than falling asleep. The silver lining to this whole exhausting business is that by the time night comes along I am so ready to sleep that even the hard ground doesn't stop me from having a more or less sound sleep at night.

But it doesn't stop the dreams. Terrifying images of the green hell-scape Arry and I travel to get here. The pain of the whip. The colour of my own blood. Also, images of Arry covered in her own blood. Dead. That I was too late.

The night terrors plague me every night making my sleep lighter and my exhaustion deeper with every night.

However, the images of Arry plague me throughout the day as well as through the night. Body pale and cold, limbs at awkward angles. Clothes wet and sticky with her own blood. Eyes staring right me and forever unseeing. The former glistening grey, clouded over.

Day by day we make it further, I learn knew things and my feet become tougher and more resilient to the extended periods of walking. Marron and Arethen have even been talking with me about other aspects of the world; namely money and the vague ideas they have of the politics outside the Dalish clan.


	7. Okay

**Hello everyone!**

 **Thanks for continuing thus far with Sophi's story! I hope that the last chapter wasn't too boring, but here is where things kind of begin to pick up. Thank you for being so patient!**

* * *

Dhaveira mentioned that we would be diverging from the road soon to weave through the forests to find the location that the scouts had found. I didn't think that it would be so long on the road there, I had thought that it would be a few hours. Not a three-day trek through forests and down dirt roads.

Dhaveira had also mentioned at the time that the roads would likely get busier until we get to the point where we will leave them. Apparently, she hadn't been lying. In the past few hours I had seen more people than I had since I was torn from my home.

I guess that I hadn't thought about the people that surely inhabit this place through all the running for my life and recovering from near-death experiences. I thought that maybe seeing other people would help me feel better, maybe that seeing people living in this world would give me hope. Hope that Arry has survived to this point. Hope that _I_ can survive. And most of all, hope that we could get back home. To where we belong.

The only thing I feel seeing all these people, however, is a growing emptiness. A hollow deep inside gnawing at me, threatening to tear me apart from the inside out. All these people belong here, have families, homes and people who know them and care about them. The more people I see here the more I realize just how alone Arry and I are in this place.

The truth hits me in the gut and despite the sun actually warmly shining for a moment through the seemingly unrelenting rain, I feel colder than ever. I feel the cold settling around me, surrounding me like a cloud.

I let my mind wander, trying to coax it away from the brink of depression. I watch who walks by, most giving our group sidelong glances and making a sort of bubble around us as we travel down the road. Being on the road for even just a little while makes it obvious as to why they prefer to stick to the smaller forest routes. It is made especially obvious when the sidelong glances are then accompanied with slurs and nasty remarks. One of the most common slurs that I hear with my now seemingly enhanced hearing is "knife ear." My hand moves up to my ear, exploring the new shape, each ridge different than I remember. All of it coming to a distinctive point instead of a curve, bringing sense to the slur.

Although I don't find myself connecting to that culture. Before we left the camp I learnt a fair bit about Dalish beliefs. From my understanding, however fragmented it may be, Dalish culture involves a lot of forest business and honouring their old gods. Most of the names are long and complicated so I only remember a couple at the best of times.

Dhaveira and Ilyriane are my most consistent companions, with Himsulem not far ahead of us. Marron walks up with Himsulem usually with Arethen following behind us. I hadn't thought of it right away but the more I look at this arrangement I realize that I am near the center and that the rest of them move with almost perfect synchrony. I wonder how long it took for them to be able to know to move together like that.

It seems like a long time before we find where to leave the road but I imagine that my sore feet are just making it seem like more time. I follow closely behind Ilyriane with Dhaveira right behind me. Maybe it's just some kind of paranoia created and nurtured by this place but I do my best to only step in Ilyriane's footsteps. Although after a while I find myself relaxing and taking in the beautiful scenery. The path takes us looping are trees and copses of trees that are thicker than the rest. After seeing a tree so old that it would take a large team of people to reach around its colossal trunk. I look up and find it appears that its branches don't seem to have an end.

A snap of the branches to our left has my head snapping in that direction to see what made the sound. Fear invades my mind filling every corner it can reach my eyes darting between the trunks around me. Feeling alone, I reach for the heavy metal blade that Himsulem insisted I carry on the left side of my hips. A hand on my shoulder causes me to jolt away, but I turn only to see Himsulem there.

"If we need to depend on your skills we will be in a difficult situation indeed." He spoke quietly, almost a whisper before he smiled. And he had told me before that I had been improving really quickly. Jeez. He put a finger to his lips and pointed in the direction that the snapping sound had come from.

I turn to look where he pointed, I squint into the trees my gaze flitting between the trunks trying to spot whatever it was that everyone else had now stopped to watch. I start to turn my head to ask what we are looking at when a gleam of white catches my eyes about a hundred meters through the trees.

I turn back to focus on the source of the gleam to see some deer through the woods. Wait… I squint into the forest, my eyes having improved since my change, those aren't deer. Not exactly. I shift my position to get a better look when a couple stride through the trees not more than fifty meters away from the tree we stopped under. The others mutter something in elvhen that I don't understand.

The deer having gleaming, almost pearlescent white coats with lovely curling and undulating white antlers. They stride over the underbrush of the dense forest silently with what I would describe as near impossible grace.

The others make gestures of respect towards the small herd of deer-like creatures as we quietly watch them from a distance. And for a moment, I was able to let go of all of my worries and problems. I could just exist; live and move on. But every moment must pass, so did this one. I tried to hold on to the feeling of ease that I had enjoyed but it was already gone.

We ended up setting up camp there while Marron and Arethen went to hunt and forage for food to eat that night. The thought settled in my mind to ask them what kinds of food can be foraged here. I mean at home I know the look of most of the wild berry bushes that are okay to eat from but for all I know I could come across something that looks like a raspberry but truthfully be some kind of horribly poisonous berry that could kill just by licking it. Which is an undesirable course of action.

Ilyriane and Dhaveira showed me how to set up the tents this time and after we finished Himsulem arrived with some wood to make a small fire. Around the fire Ilyriane explained to me that the creatures we saw earlier were halla, which are sacred to the Dalish people. There is a goddess that they worship, Ghilan'nain who is the mother of the halla and in the legend of her origin she had been suffering horribly at the hands of a hunter so another of the gods turned her into the first halla.

Over the time of our trip Ilyriane had not only aided in teaching me more of sword use and technique. I had still been learning quickly, even I am noticing that this is the fastest I have ever learned anything before. There was one point where I had been going to clean and tend the swords and I had held two at the same time I had experimented with how they felt, one in each hand, but I had let the moment pass so that I wouldn't be caught dawdling with the cleaning. But I hadn't forgotten how it felt to have two of the long swords. Each day the maintenance routine of the swords and other equipment became easier and each day I got a bit quicker at the chore. Himsulem has been making sure to not let me forget how important tending your weapons is, "A dull, rusty blade will do you about as much good as a twig." Everyday. But it makes sense, it's the same way you need to keep a vehicle in good repair by keeping up with regular maintenance. Although I don't know if that's really a good comparison as I never did keep up with vehicle maintenance. The bittersweet thought of "Now it isn't a problem," floated through my mind. Yep, I am pretty sure the most sophisticated vehicle here is a fancy carriage.

Dhaveira, who knows the most truth about my situation, has continued to teach me how to exercise greater control over my magic. She keeps talking about the Fade. If I remember right that was the first place Arry and I had landed after the explosion, that freakish nightmare landscape. Dhaveira explained that the Fade is more or less where magic is derived from. She mentioned that a mage's capabilities are directly connected to how easily they can access the Fade. She says that everyone dreams in the Fade, except Dwarves; who consequently can't use magic. We also discovered that despite my evident magical abilities I don't seem to enter the Fade to dream, thank God. Nonetheless it hasn't stopped Dhaveira from trying to get me there, which hasn't worked yet. To which I also say, "Thank God."

Dhaveira has also been showing the maps they have of the area, with the help of the twins. They sort of share the responsibility of teaching me more and more everyday, about Fereldan, Orlais and the other areas of Thedas ending with Tevinter at the top of the map. The clan's camp is nearest to a city called Amaranthine but the location we are trying to get to is about half way between the clan's location and a place called Highever. On the map, it's shown that the two cities are on the coast of the Waking Sea but Amaranthine is closer to the edge, nearer to the ocean to the east. North of the Waking Sea is a place called the Free Marches. She teaches me also on the currency used by the countries. I still don't have it quite straight, I remember there are bronze, silver and gold coins that are generally worth the same between the two larger southern countries, Fereldan and Orlais. At times it just seems like so much to learn, but when I think about it I realize that it just seems like a lot because it is the kind of stuff that you learn growing up in a place. It's everything I already know about my home but need to learn about this place.

Home. The thought still causes my chest to tighten. The best I can tell is that it has been roughly one month since… Well, since my life got blown to smithereens and I landed in this hell hole of death and danger. Things will be better once I find Arry, we'll figure out a way back and then we will be safe at home. We won't have to fear what might be behind the next corner or what's lurking in the shadows.

Once Marron and Arethen are back the fire is ready for the small hare-like creatures they found, called fennecs I think. They also found a berry bush that was ripe with sweet red fruit.

Dhaveira and Ilyriane spoke more about the halla we had seen earlier. The subject seemed to bring about something of reverence in the whole lot of them. I had never been very religious in my life. My father's side of the family were Christian, not the kind you hear about in the news like Westboro but rather the congregation had always been very accepting of new ways of thought. In fact, I heard recently that the newest minister encourages people of all faiths and backgrounds to attend any ceremony or Sunday service. The subject of the "Elven Pantheon" as they call it, brings out a devoutness I had never seen in my family. I find it nice to see that there are people who have faith in something here. Everyone should have that option available in their life, regardless of whether it is faith in science or a deity. The choice to believe in something is a significant decision. Faith can be a powerful thing no matter where it is directed.

They share stories while the food is cooked and continue to do so while we eat. The meat tasting somewhere between chicken and beef. I hadn't ever had any hunted food before so I couldn't compare it to deer, rabbit or any other game animal. With the stories I find myself content to listen, any story I try to tell would need some serious editing and even then any meaning or point would get lost.

After the meal, Himsulem and Ilyriane insisted on more training. They were determined to wear me right out. At least there has been the satisfaction of actually learning something every time they train me. This time after they left me I even tried to see how it would feel to wield two swords at the same time. It felt nearly natural but I would have to figure out how to wield both accurately and smoothly. It would take time. By the end of training I was left so exhausted I was sure I would get a good sleep.

However, that night, scenes of Arry greeting me and scenes of finding her dead took turns playing out in my dreams. While the slightest sounds of the night forest waking me with ease.

* * *

I look up at the sky, another dismal day. Not wet really but the sky looks about ready to open up and dump buckets of rain on us. The more I see of the Storm Coast, the more I relate it to Vancouver Island and the coast of British Colombia. The weather and landscape are insanely similar, as well as the vegetation that grows here. I spot a patch of little purple flowers that look similar but not quite the same as a bunch of tiny pansies.

Arethen comes up to us and pulls Himsulem and Ilyriane aside to say something. We had been waiting to hear from him and Marron for about an hour now. Once we got closer to the destination the two of them went further ahead to scout the area to make sure that we wouldn't be walking into any surprises, meaning traps or people waiting for someone to come back to that spot. They chatted for a minute or two before Arethen walks back the way he came. Ilyriane beckons Dhaveira and I over to them.

"We are going to head over to where the convoy of the slavers was last seen." Ilyriane says, with something of a grimness to her voice. Himsulem won't even look this way. "Himsulem is going to lead and I am going to following behind you. We suggest to try avoid making too much noise, we haven't caught anyone's attention yet and I would rather it stay that way." I nod to acknowledge her.

Himsulem starts us off with a brisk walk where I only look down to make I don't misstep along the way and cause unnecessary racket. I keep close enough to Dhaveira to see where she steps in front of me but I try not to get too much closer than that so that I can react if she stops. Before too long we slow down to near a crawl and then he stops us altogether. Could it really be that dangerous? Who could possibly be this far off the beaten paths and roads? But hey, I'm just some ignorant city girl. Never even went camping too far from civilization, despite Arry's insistence that it's so much better to camp in the middle of nowhere. "Right, whatever you say Arry. I won't be going anywhere that is so far that no one can hear the screams." Would always be my response and she would always roll her eyes at my distaste for camping. I look forward to having some light again, I feel like everyone is usually so serious and I haven't even made any jokes for what feels like forever, despite the fact that back home I could hardly go one conversation without some kind of humour. But for now, my own mind is the only audience to any humour it comes up with.

I miss how we could always just understand what the other was meaning without having to say very much. One of us could say a single statement and the other would just know what was meant by it, sometimes even a single word or sound could elicit the response the other was looking for.

Lost in thought I bump into a crouched Dhaveira who is waiting to see a signal from her husband. I wave my apologies. Apparently now was _really_ not the time. Internal sigh, so as to keep the silence. She stands up and moves forward, meeting Himsulem a few steps away from us.

Dhaveira turns to Ilyriane and I, "Marron and Arethen say that the area is clear so we should be fine to walk the rest of the way, but we should talk not more than needed." _Oh? I thought that we would have to get quieter now if we were approaching the place. Shouldn't there be a whole bunch of those Tevinter people like there were with me?_ I shudder remembering the place I woke up after being whipped, the stench of charred flesh that burned itself onto my memory. Well, we would have to be quiet unless… A vision of dead bodies everywhere burnt and smouldering comes to mind, one of them with the silver locket she always wore, blackened and destroyed. My heart rate picks up speed. Please don't let that be the case. Arry has to be alive. I know it. She can't be dead, she just can't.

After a couple of minutes walking the forest around us began to give way, thinning out into a meadow. The smell hit first. The familiar scent of burnt flesh, causing nausea to roll over me as I try to mask my face with the travelling robes I have on. I see them moving further into desolate meadow, I try to follow but my legs won't work. I don't want to see. I can't look. My vision gets blurry and my eyes burn from the tears. I focus on the ground in front of me.

No. What if Arry is over there and needs help? Am I just going to stand here? Unable to go forward because of the possibility of… No. She has to be alive.

I take a step forward, my motions feel mechanical and stiff, but I have to keep going. The memories of how Arry took care of the both of us while my leg healed. I can _not_ give up on her. I look up to move further into the clearing.

Arethen, Himsulem and Ilyriane are speaking on the other side of an area with taller grass so I make my way over to them. The noxious odor gets stronger as I near them and as I get around the tall grass I see why. The three of them are standing around a blackened mound. I wonder what it is until I see limbs sticking out at weird angles from around the edges of the pile. People. Bodies. Bodies that had been piled one on top of the other and set fire.

"It looks like the work of people who have done it before or maybe even professionals. Mercenaries of a sort perhaps." Himsulem observes as Ilyriane looks from the pile to my face, which I am sure is wearing a mix of horror and disgust, where her face wears expressions of sympathy. She can tell I have never seen anything like it before. Although, I suppose that that fact is obvious to anyone who had been exposed to this kind of carnage before.

I look to the ground to see that there are brownish coppery stains all over the dry ground. Any rain that had fallen wasn't enough to cleanse the area of the bloodletting that had occurred. Noticing a splatter further from the rest I let my legs carry me to follow it, despite the feeling in my gut telling me to stay with the others.

What I could see of the trail lead me to the tree line on the opposite side of the clearing from where we entered. I could see the discolouration on the bark of the trees, one in the shape of a hand. Reminded of when I stumbled through the forest after I had woken up surrounded by people burnt to unrecognizability. I have flashes of the memories as I follow the blood trail further into the thickening forest. A hand print there, a smear across the leaves of a bush and a splotched stain on the ground next to the bush. Eventually I could smell the stench of a decaying body, which I recognize due to an unfortunate death of an older woman at my apartment that went unnoticed for more than a week.

Finally, I find where the person perished; the reek stronger as I approach it. The body is slumped against the trunk of a large tree. One leg crossed the foot under the straight leg, head slumped to the side with the right hand on the lap and the left fallen to the ground. A morbid curiosity lured me to look a bit closer, I cover my face with the sleeve of my travel cloak to reduce the stench. It looks as if animals had gotten to it before it began to rot. Whoever it was, I doubt anyone would be able to recognize it now, even they had been close family.

I stand up right, I can hear the others calling "Gaelea." It had taken me a moment to realize that they had been referring to me, with the "Sophi" part missing from the beginning making the name almost sound foreign.

As I straighten, I look at the body, pity wells up inside me for the poor soul who died here; alone, cold and probably slowly. My eyes travel the area around the body and a glinting on the ground next to the open hand catches my gaze. I kneel down to get a closer look. When that fails, I reach my right hand to the ground luckily it had fallen far enough away that I didn't have to touch the body. I grasp a cold piece of metal from the grass. A chain clinks as I lift it up and stand again. I hear the rustling of the others approaching as I open my hand to reveal a silver locket.

My hands go numb. My heart races. I know this locket. I raise my left hand and flinch when I touch the cold surface. Looking at the chain only confirms my deepest fear as I find brown hair tangled on the chain near the clasp. The pounding of my breaking heart, seeming to be pumping not blood but pain and sorrow. My knees give out. I finger the hair, seeing that there are blue and green strands mixed in with the brown. No one here has blue and green hair.

Except Arry.

The whole world goes quiet as I look back to the body. Stiff, cold. Alone.

Dead.

I clutch the locket to my chest as the pain sears through my body. It boils up and escapes.

I scream my pain into the cold, empty and dark forest.

Now, like her, I am alone.

* * *

Time passing no longer mattered. I let Himsulem and Dhaveira pull me away from the body. Arryn's body. Tears burn at my eyes, I let them pass.

Gazing endlessly at the locket. I was too late. She died. Slowly from bleeding out. Afraid of the evil in this twisted world. Alone, because I never came to find her.

I open it again. It only confirms that it was hers. The outside, her family's coat-of-arms. The inside, another coat-of-arms with a Latin motto "In bello, victoria. In pacem, vigilantia. In mortem, sacrificium." Arry had once said it was from a very long time ago that the locket had been passed down to the eldest daughter for centuries, all the way to her. The other section of the inside. Her full name "Arryn Eliza Mauntelle." She hates… Hated her middle name. Her birthday is there as well, August 1, 1991.

I close my eyes wishing everything away. I don't deserve to live anymore. I failed the only friend I have here. I deserve to die. Alone and scared. And slowly. I deserve no better a life than what she had lived. Maybe if I am lucky this horrible world will choose to take me next. I look up at the dismal grey sky. Roiling and undulating like waves on the ocean. Suiting of my mood, but Arry deserves a beautiful sunny day as a farewell.

I curl my knees up to my chest, put the locket close to my heart and hug myself tightly. Perhaps it will help keep me together, but I can feel pieces of me slipping away. The most important pieces. I grip tighter and tighter until Dhaveira comes and grabs my hands away from my arms. I can hear her voice but the words aren't reaching me. Everything is so far away. I don't know why Dhaveira came over.

Oh. There's blood on my fingers. I guess I had been gripping myself so forcefully that my nails had dug into my arms a little. Dhaveira kneels next to me and wipes up the blood. She doesn't look at my face though.

Looking out towards the forest, the day fades to night and they set up camp. I stare into the fire for a while before I lay down.

I allow the all-consuming darkness to fill me. There is nothing now. I am in a horrible world. Trapped with no way home. My family, unreachable. My only true friend… Gone forever.

I fall asleep with the images of the dancing fire before me. Proving how insignificant I and my suffering truly are.

A figure in a black cloak. It reaches out to me, hand gnarled and boney, but it offers sanctuary from this place.

Its voice cold and shrill. It says it can end my suffering. End this horrible, tearing pain. Take me home. I just need to let it in.

Okay.


	8. Dead End

**Sorry for being a little over a week late on this one! School got crazy for the end of the term. Anyway here we get to see how a demon handles Sophi. I really appreciate all the comments that are left on the story, I love to hear all of your opinions.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the new chapter! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays for those who don't celebrate Christmas!**

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Cold. No, not just cold. Glacial, deeply bitter. Like the biting wind in middle of winter that leaves your skin feeling raw and burnt. Except, instead of feeling the bite on my skin, I could feel the icy grasp inside.

The voice. It brought the cold when I brought it in. The sensation of it smothering me, my memories, my personality, everything that makes me who I am is disappearing under the heavy and oppressing ice. It kept getting heavier and bigger the longer it stayed. Drowning. Suffocating under the overpowering presence that came with it. That voice didn't just bring the overwhelming cold, but with each second it stayed it brought every ounce of pain and sorrow bubbling to the surface. Crushing despair crippling any hope of defending my being.

Inside. It's within me and it's killing me. From the inside out.

But… Isn't that what I deserve? To die cold, afraid and alone. Darkness envelops me.

How long I spend there, floating in despair, I don't know. Time seemed to disappear, the only things that exist here are darkness, despair and the deep, unforgiving cold.

Every sadness in my life comes to the fore front of my mind. Arry's death, how she was alone and cold. How I could never repay her for how she had risked everything for me when we first got here. My family, how I will likely never see them again. Grandma Ella, I have let her down. I couldn't save Arry. My brother, Ethan, I had promised to him and Elysia that I would reconcile with mom and dad. My parents, I won't ever get the chance to tell them how much I love them. How much I regret letting us drift further apart every year since I moved away. Knowing that even if I were to find a way home, how could my family possibly recognize me. I have gotten taller and thinner; not to mention that I seem to now have pointed ears. Feeling impossibly alone in a world where I have become a burden to everyone I am near.

All the dark and miserable thought I had ever had flows through me, with each moment the weight of the cold grows. It is winning. I can't win against this oppressive force. It is too powerful.

The cold consumes me. I remember this feeling. It had been almost year since I had left my parents and they had cut me off. I was so lost. I didn't know how to properly take care of anything. I didn't know things that someone at the age of nineteen should know. I had never had to deal with any of it before. It felt like this. Cold, alone and empty.

A gentle hand guides me through the memory. Arry. She had helped me to my feet then. Taught me how to do the things I need to do. Some days with more patience than others, but she helped me either way.

The memory ignites a spark. That gentle, warm hand reaching down to help me stand. Warm and light. Arry… She had been there for so long. She had helped me stand so many times. And I had helped her stand back up too. We had made each other strong. So now, even though the pain of her loss is still fresh, I need to be strong enough for the both of us.

I take hold of the warm light and it ignites that tingling power inside of me. A blazing inferno to push the oppressive cold out. The fire builds stronger and hotter. The white light reaching every dark cold corner, burning away the glacial presence. Finally, conquering the weak being of despair in a violent explosion.

I open my eyes slowly. Above me are the stars clear and calm. Moving my body is excruciating as I try to sit up. A splitting headache blooms from the base of my skull radiating throughout my whole head. I sit up and look down to rub the back of my neck. The ground sparkles around me. Wait… Sparkles? I look around at what's left of the camp the others had set up while I was despondent. What's left is very little. The tents have been blown apart, the fire doesn't exist anymore and everything appears to be blown away from me. The whole camp looks as if winter came early ice and snow over almost every surface, also the in a ten-foot circle around me there is a wall of ice spikes. The crags of ice range between five and eight feet tall.

Where are the others? Looking around at the destruction I can't tell if they are nearby.

"Dhaveira? Himsulem?" I wait for a reply, no one answers right away. I stand slowly to not aggravate the headache further. "Ilyriane?" I turn around on the spot to see if I can see them.

I see a light flash to my left on the other side of the ice wall.

"Dhaveira?" I try to look beyond the wall of solid and imposing ice spikes. I get as close as I can, the temperature around me understandably dropping by the minute.

"Gaelea? Is that you?" I hear Ilyriane's voice on the other side of the ice. Relief floods me, but I notice a degree caution in her voice that must have been caused by the appearance of all this ice.

"Yeah… What happened? Where did all this ice come from?" My distinct lack of proper cold weather attire was starting to cause a shiver. I spot a warm glow from the other side.

"Just wait, Dhaveira is trying to melt this ice." That tone of caution was still in her voice though; is there something they know that I don't?

I see the light from the fire magic that Dhaveira must be using to melt the ice. A shiver ripples through me, I hope she melts through the ice quickly. I am freezing.

Wait… I look at my hands. _I_ have _magic_. Alright. Here it goes. First truly practical use of my magic. Aiming for fire…

I rub my hands together in preparation. Okay, okay… Just need a small flame to kick-start the melting on this side of the ice. I can feel the warmth in my fingers and… Oh shit! I withdraw my hands immediately.

Well, that did _not_ go as planned. I look at my hands in shock. I look to where I had focused my flame. I could almost see the others through the now paper thin ice. That flame had _not_ been small at all. I had meant to create something to melt the ice slowly with a flame the size of my hands but instead created inferno almost bigger than I am.

Dhaveira, naturally, is the first one to make it through the ice all the way, but instead of a look of relief on her face there is only a guarded expression; she stands at the ready. As the others come in I realize they are all ready for something to attack them.

I look them all up and down. They each have their respective weapon fully at the ready. Marron with an arrow nocked, Arethen with two daggers, Himsulem with his sword and Ilyriane with her great sword at the ready.

Suddenly, I feel entirely unprepared. What seemingly vital piece of information am I lacking?

"Uh, what's the matter?" I look each of them in the eye, which was easy as they won't let their eyes stray from me. "Is something wrong? I just want to know what happened… I was kind of dreaming.  
Then it was cold and dark. Next thing I know is waking up totally trapped by an ice-wall."

Dhaveira slowly approaches me, looking me dead in the eyes the whole time, her hands ready to cast at a moment's notice but her staff nowhere in sight. I keep looking at her, waiting for an answer. She doesn't say anything, even when she is a breath away, she only stares deeply into my eyes. This lasts for a couple of moments; it seems as if she is searching for something. Exactly what it is, I haven't the slightest idea.

After a couple more minutes of that she breaks the silence, "Somehow, she's clean. No demon." She turns to face Himsulem who immediately drops his guard. Marron follows him very quickly, but Ilyriane and Arethen are more hesitant to drop their guard.

Himsulem looks at them, "Dhaveira is particularly gifted in sniffing out demons. If she says there are none in Gaelea, then I believe her." Marron expresses similar sentiment, but I am still totally in the dark here. What's going on? Whelp, Sophi sure doesn't know. So, don't ask.

Ilyriane loosens her grip on her sword, but doesn't lower it, "Can you be entirely certain? As her lover and her brother, I can understand why you trust Dhaveira's word, but we must be wholly confident that Gaelea has not turned into an abomination." Arethen lowers his bow but doesn't remove the arrow from its position on the string. The tension between the differing opinions in palpable in the air.

Marron strolls straight over to Arethen and Ilyriane, "The Keeper and the First both agree that Dhaveira's skill in detecting demons is unparalleled. In fact, it is for that reason that she was from the Circles in the first place." He places his hand on Arethen's bow, looking between the two of them.

Yep. I am entirely lost. There were a few terms that I don't understand. "Abomination?" "Circles?" You know that feeling when a bunch of experts in somehow are talking and you're supposed to be part of the conversation but have literally no clue what is being said despite knowing the language being spoken? Yep, one-hundred percent my sentiment right now. Heh heh, right meow.

I can see Arethen relax a little. He looks at me and I can spot the fear in his eyes be replaced with trust. Not trust for me, but rather trust for Marron and Dhaveira. Which is all I feel I can ask right now, despite feeling entirely mystified by their conversation. It's obvious that Ilyriane is still a little hesitant but she lowers her monstrously large blade. She and Himsulem share a look and I can see him give a slow nod which seems to make her relax even further and she returns the greatsword to her back.

Everyone is still very nervous but at least the chances of my death at the hands of the only people I trust here have dwindled.

"Well… That was nerve-wracking." I sigh out as I too relax a little.

Dhaveira looks at me again eyes full of bewilderment, "How did you destroy that demon?"

Demon? Oh boy… What am I missing? I did something, didn't I? Shit. "Uh… Demon? What exactly to you mean by demon?" The image that word conjures is that of a devil, not unlike the demon look that Hellboy has with the curled horns and ominously huge stature.

"Remember when the Keeper was telling you about how mages can be possessed by demons from the Fade?"

Oh… Right. Wait… Did that happen to me? I look at Dhaveira, "Well, yeah… But didn't he also say that because I don't seem to enter the Fade when I dream that it's incredibly unlikely that it could happen to me? I mean it's almost impossible for me to even enter the Fade. We have been trying this whole time to get me to the Fade and nothing has worked!" My breathing has gotten ragged, my heart pounding. Did I get possessed? I recall the deep, freezing darkness that I had felt before. Was that because of a demon? Suddenly, the ring of ice spikes holds a different meaning. I reach out, my hand shaking and making an involuntary flinch when I touch the ice.

A hand on my shoulder causes my heart to jump a tremor moves through my body, Dhaveira. I exhale. I did this. Not a demon. I look her in the eye, "What happened to me?" My heart racing, do I really want to know? No. No, I don't want to know at all. But if I don't know what happened, how could I expect to stop it from happening again?

My body feels heavy as I let myself fall, but I feel arms come from behind me to stop my fall and lower me to the ground. I turn to see Himsulem and Marron at my sides. Dhaveira kneels down beside me, "I am not certain. However, it was clear that somehow you were able to access the Fade." Marron and Himsulem come around to stand behind Dhaveira, she continues, "A demon must have been drawn to the sorrow you are feeling, perhaps it also helped to get you there." She grabbed my shoulders gripping tightly, "Look me and the eye." The sternness laced in her voice shocked me and it draws my gaze to her. Looking deeply into my eyes, "I know it is painful. The loss of a true friend can tear you up inside. Sometimes it even feels as if the hurt will never fade." Her hand goes to my cheek; I hadn't noticed the wetness of tears there until now. "But it was your fresh and growing despair that drew that demon to you. It seems difficult or impossible now, but you cannot allow a demon to take away the possibility of healing." I gasp as she pulls me into a hug. The act of the embrace feels foreign, but welcome. I pull my arms up and the weight of everything comes crashing down on top of me, I let myself cry. I let the pain well up and spill over.

I don't think it was too long before I release Dhaveira and pull away. Ilyriane and Arethen had come over to us, Ilyriane kneeling behind me rubbing my back. I hadn't realized how close I felt to these people until now. They have become my friends, all of them.

"I don't know how you came back from being possessed, I felt the demon take you over entirely. It got so serious that I had everyone go to the forest's edge. That demon had finished possessing you. We were about to go in and kill it, but then that explosion created all this." Dhaveira's gaze travels around the where the ice wall had formed. Her eyes come back to me, "And now the demon is entirely gone, I can't feel even a trace of it left inside you despite having had such a firm hold on you."

I look at my hands, test the movement. Yep, I am in charge. Himsulem puts his hand on Dhaveira's shoulder, "We should leave here. That explosion is bound to have caught the attention of something or someone."

Ilyriane and Arethen leave the circle of ice and Dhaveira gets up. Marron helps me to stand up, I expected it to be difficult to keep myself vertical but standing held no difficulty. Perhaps I don't have to let this have a lasting effect on me. My body has already mostly recovered. All that's left is the gaping hole inside where my friendship with Arry had been housed. Although after being friends for so long it is more like a tree, with roots that reach to all the other areas of my life. Most of which have lost their meaning as well. I look at the people around me, I could feel the empty spaces starting to heal. I think it will take a long time but maybe I could find that I belong here.

* * *

We hike carefully through the dark forest, Dhaveira and Arethen leading the way with her using a little magic to light the path slightly.

My mind felt so heavy that the hiking didn't even bother me. Everything went through my mind, everything that had happened and everything that I had lost. Home… Arry… My family… Everything I had ever worked for.

We had already settled in a new location; it didn't seem very far away but the distance seemed to satisfy Himsulem and Ilyriane. The rain had pretty well stopped so they settled with simply stretching the tent canvas between a few trees and unrolling the bed rolls underneath it. Out of caution we did not light another fire. According to Ilyriane the explosion I had caused had probably drawn unwanted attention, so we all laid close to each other under the cover of the tent canvas. Himsulem took the first watch, something that seemed regular but I hadn't known that there were overnight watches. I mean I suppose I should have guessed that, every fantasy or adventure novel, movie or game that involved camping of some sort also involved the rotation of watch duty.

Although it seems they never asked me to take a watch. I remember a moment from a book I had read a couple of years back, the title escapes me, but the two main protagonists of the story had been brought to another world and they had to covertly travel the land. Every night the person on first watch had ended up falling asleep on the job. I'm sure that they thought that would happen if they asked me to take a shift of watch duty. And… They are probably right. I would very likely fall asleep.

I turn over in my bed roll, I can hear the soft breathing of the others who were already sleeping, the lucky ones. I had been trying and trying, eyes closed, trying every trick I know, but failing none-the-less.

I hear the rustling of someone rising from their roll on the other side from where I am facing. It must be the changing of the guard. I hear Dhaveira's voice softly speak to Himsulem.

"I hope that Asha'bellanar comes to her soon. She needs help from one more powerful than any of us." A pause, it seems so long. I try not to give away that I am awake. "To destroy a demon from the inside by expelling and destroying it at the same time, I have never heard of anyone with such power before."

Himsulem's deep voice is more difficult to hear as he whispers, "I have never seen anything like what had happened. I have seen mages become Abominations and she was already changing when that flash of light sent all that ice into the ground. I think I could almost feel the magic coming off of her. I can't imagine how it must have felt to another mage, especially you. You have always been sensitive to the magical abilities of others."

Dhaveira sighs, there is a kind of weight to the sound that I don't think I can understand, "It was suffocating, it makes me understand why Asha'bellanar came to our camp almost immediately after we found her. She could seriously hurt someone if she were to lose control of that power."

I can feel my chest tightening with each second of silence. They see me as a hazard. I am dangerous to them. I had never felt so separate from people before.

Dhaveira speaks again, "Himsulem, it wasn't just any demon either. It was a truly powerful despair demon. However, when the light faded it had vanished all together. I searched deeply through her mind and soul and found nothing but that suffocating power. The only explanation is that her magic destroyed the demon, but I don't know how that much raw power could be held at bay."

I keep my eyes screwed shut. I don't want to hear any more. I can feel the power inside me. It is different from before. I can hardly remember any of what happened before but I can remember how the power felt then. It is different now. Not any less volatile or dangerous, but more mine. Before it almost felt like a foreign agent in my body, a parasite almost. I mentally reach to the power and it almost mirrors my movement. It is becoming a part of me.

I hear more shuffling but they don't say anything more. Before too long I can hear Himsulem's heavy breathing from across our line of bedrolls.

Eventually I fall asleep as well. Although, I am sure I slept more fitfully than ever. Images of a black cloaked demon with gnarled fingers trying to get to me and explosions of light and ice that rumble the forest haunt my dreams all night long. A wolf's howl haunts my dreams, or maybe it was the the wolves in the forest, my foggy mind couldn't care to tell.

* * *

What a miserable day. At least the weather knows how I feel.

It is one of those days where you would just want to cuddle up in bed or on a couch with a hot chocolate and do absolutely nothing. That however is not an option. The rain pouring down from the sky makes for slow going through the forest on our way back to the Dalish camp. The squelching of my boots through the less than cooperative mushy path. Muck, mud and many other things that I am sure I don't want to know. Also, I am pretty sure that my cloak has gotten so soaked from the torrential rain that it is has stopped keeping me dry.

Unfortunately, it is not my decision to stop or continue, so continue it is.

Fortunately, the continuing helps keep me distracted as it requires most of my attention to not have my boot stuck in the next mushy step.

Oh good. Uphill… So easy, especially when every step feels like it could take me right back to the bottom. I reach to the tree to my left to keep myself from sliding down the incline. I look up to see how mush is left to go up but… Yep, should have seen that coming. My companions all take each step with ease and confidence. I guess that's what happens when you grow up in the forests. That would make me what happens when you take the daughter of a very wealthy family who grew up in houses that were enormous and people who would take care of your every need.

Finally, the top. I made it! I look out from behind the trees that line the top of this hill. Oh, look! More forest. How can there be so much forest? I have never seen so much forest before coming here, let alone trudge through it. On a positive note, it looks like that is the end of the torrential down pour, ahead it looks like it might even get sunny. Ha, right.

Everyone else was being relatively quiet even though there didn't seem to be a reason to be quiet. Yet, along we trudge not a peep out of a single of us. Not that the other night's events could have anything to do with that. Although I had noticed that Dhaveira was sticking nearer to Himsulem this time, they were looking almost cuddly as they walk some paces ahead of me.

There hadn't been any sign of my magic acting up since that night, although it had definitely changed somehow. Before it had felt like a viscous material that I could hold in my hands and direct easily to do what I want but nothing more. Now, it feels like it is more of a smoke or even light that no matter how I try to contain it seems nearly impossible. I haven't tried to use it to do anything yet but I wasn't sure I wanted to. Magic is dangerous enough, even more so now that I am not sure that I can control what I do even if I try.

After about another hour of walking got us to a small trail, not quite a road but too big to be a deer trail. However, it also brought us to the area where it hadn't rained as much. Meaning, a dry-ish road on which to walk with ease. Not to mention not needing to carefully calculate each step before I take it.

I had been purposefully lagging behind everyone so that I could see if I can use my magic at all. I flex my hands in front of me, unsure of whether I want to try. I spend so long focusing on my hands that when I look up I am alone on the path.

Oh, shit. My hands drop, I frantically look around. Where did they all go? Oh, no… This is bad. Very, very bad.

My heart pounds heavily in my chest. I look ahead down the path and pick up my pace. Hopefully I can catch up to them!

Fortunately, Ilyriane was already coming back down the path towards me. I make I contact with her and I feel the relief flood through me. I raise my hand to wave at her and she breaks into a sprint and grasps her weapon ready to dive into a fight. Is she charging at me? She waves at me to get to the side, so at something behind me. My stomach dropped as I take in the sight of three very hostile looking and well-armed men charging down the path straight at me.

I break into a sprint towards Ilyriane and as I reach her I spin to the side in a feat of footwork I didn't know I knew how to do, all the while drawing my sword from its place at my hip. Feeling the smoke of the magic spark to life. Ilyriane skids to a halt and draws her greatsword.

As I ready myself for a fight, body shaking with adrenaline. As much as I have trained to handle myself in a fight I can feel that I am not really ready to kill someone, but I also know that that is likely the only way that I am going to get out this situation alive.

I grip my sword; too tight I need to loosen just a little. My ears ring, before I feel my sense tingle around me from Arethen and Himsulem come from the forest's edge just ahead of us, both prepared for a fight. Marron comes up beside me, bow fully drawn, his stance a beautiful mix of lethality and grace. Then a blast of light comes from beneath us, in a flash of blue-green that brought with a sense of reassurance that envelops me like a blanket. It feels calming and cooling, it helps me to clear my head. I look to the side to see Dhaveira, staff in hand ready to fight the coming onslaught.

I thought for sure that after they saw us all ready to fight they would back off. Surely, they realized that three against five are not good odds for them. Our group kept backing up, the rest of them almost ushering me further down the path. They must know something about what's further down the road, so I move backwards with them. Not misstepping even once; a testament to how much just being in this world has changed me.

A snap in the trees beside us draws my attention. No animal would be this close to us, if I have learnt anything in the past few days animals aren't stupid, they generally stay away from people. I look into the trees and see the shadow of a person.

Oh, that's what they know. They could already tell that it isn't three against five.

The trees to our sides end as we are surrounded by a large, open meadow. Everyone, who have all trained for this kind of a possibility automatically know just what to do, they were planning for this. How long did they know we were being followed?

I try to go through every lesson in my mind as the enemies emerge from all around us. My stance, focusing on one enemy and remembering that that one enemy isn't the only one or even the only factor that can decide the outcome.

I can feel the fear building up inside of me, I try to alleviate it by running through lessons. Taunts from the attackers surrounding us ring in through air, but the pounding in my ears makes them fuzzy and incomprehensible. I try to make a count of how many there are but the pounding in my ears makes it impossible to keep track of each person, all I can tell is that there are enough of them to fully surround us.

A hand touches my shoulder causing me jump and I almost drop my sword. Dhaveira is next to me and her touch brings me fully into reality. Everything has become hyper clear, probably from the rush of adrenaline newly pumping through my veins.

She angles herself so that her slight whisper makes to my ears, "Gaelea, there is going to be a fight, but we are here. Once they attack we want you to run to the other side of the meadow. The main road is about a five-minute run from there." They want me to leave them behind to deal with these people. "They are just bandits, they probably think that we are coming from trading and have lots of stuff from trading in town. It's a danger of travel looking like we do." She leans in a little further, "Try not to use your magic, we don't know what might happen." She adds a smile, I suppose as an attempt to make me feel better.

The sound of the rocks under the feet of the assailants draws my attention, they are going to move.

They grip their weapons tighter before surging forward.

Everything happens so quickly I hardly have time to process what is going on. First, Himsulem launched himself at the bandits in front of me. Secondly, somehow while he was using his sword in one hand he grabbed my arm. Third, with my arm in his other hand he practically threw me through the new created hole between the enemies to give me a head start to the treeline on the opposite side of the clearing.

It takes me a moment to gather myself before I launch myself into a flat run to the trees. Doing as I was told. I… Don't want to run. I want to help them. I get ready to turn around.

However, I hear heavy footfalls behind me. Someone is following me. As I near the trees I use my momentum to spin myself around and skid to a halt to face whoever followed me and sure enough it was one of the bandits. He continues to barrel towards me.

I ready myself, I will have to handle this one on my own. How I plan to do this? Not a clue.

I have my sword in my hand and he comes in for the first blow. I manage to parry it successfully, he doesn't seem to have the same amount of skill as Himsulem. I go in to take a swipe at him from the right, he jumps backwards to avoid getting hit.

I feel elated by causing him to retreat, I go in for another swipe from the left this time. He manages to parry my hit this time but his sword flew out of his hand. Unfortunately, this guy did everything he needed to do. A group of four others had gotten close enough to almost surround me.

I know a good spell that could get all of them at least disabled long enough for me to get back to the others and help.

Dhaveira's warning rings through my ears. She said I shouldn't use my magic. We don't know what might happen.

Just a little couldn't hurt, enough to deal with one, maybe two of them. Knock them out entirely if it works out well.

I bring the electricity to my hand, I can feel it crackling at my finger tips. I see the slight alarm cross their faces, taken aback by me exhibiting magic.

They circle around me. I had ever felt so nervous or excited before. The light of my power pulsing inside, itching to be used. I use my hearing to tell where the ones behind me are. I let my instincts take over.

The two behind me charge to strike. I spin around to parry and block the two attacks, each movement I make gets more fluid than the last, but I won't be able to go on like this for long. More bandits keep coming over to me. I can feel the magic building up in my hand, it feels almost like it wants to be freed.

And so, I free it. I hold my hand up, the crackling energy courses from my hand and into the surrounding assaulters.

The electricity tears through all of the opponents around me and arcs to the trees and ground nearby. It continues even further… Further than I had intended. It continues to flash through every opponent between myself and the others. And it isn't stopping. I pull my hands back, but not fast enough.

By the time the moment is over I see all the people who were attacking us drop like ragdolls, those closest to me even show signs of severe burns. Dead. Every one of them. I killed them. I look at the one closest to me on my right, he had been about to run me through with his sword. Now though, I doubt even the love of his life would recognize him. If he even had a lover, but now he won't even have a chance. It isn't even like he just lost the chance, I took it from him. All his memories, experiences and skills are nothing now. Everything he ever did reduced nearly to a pile of ash.

I look over to the others to see that they are all still on the defensive. They are far enough away that I can't tell which shape is which person but I can count how many there are. One, two… Three… Four… Wait…. I starting making my way over to them, maybe two of them are close to each other. Himsulem and Dhaveira may have been fighting nearby each other to watch each other's backs.

As I navigate the clearing towards the others, trying to avoid looking at the bodies, they all converge on one of the people on the ground. Why would they be going to one of the bandits?

After getting closer I realize that the bandits over here aren't burnt at all, but I guess that makes sense… They were further away from me, the source of the electrical charge. Also… It isn't a bandit they are gathering around. I see Dhaveira desperately holding someone's hand, using the other to cast healing magic. Himsulem holds her and rubs her back, Arethen kneels next to the figure's head. Ilyriane stands at the feet. The only one missing… My stomach drops as I get close enough to realize that the figure on the ground is Marron, Dhaveira's younger brother.

I sink to my knees near them. I had killed him. Dhaveira had told not to use my magic and now her brother has become a victim of me being unable to control my magic. I can feel a hole forming at my center, they probably hate me now. I deserve it though. Nothing can make this better. I took everything away from Marron, just like those bandits.

A grunt draws my attention to the bandit laying on the ground to the left of the group. Wait… A grunt? I stand and take a few steps to look closer at him and see his hand twitch. In fact, as I take closer looks at the rest of the nearest bandits I can see them all twitching and making small movements. I whip my head around and rush over to the others, hoping beyond hope that Marron is also stirring.

I fall to the ground next to Dhaveira to see that Marron is already sitting up rubbing his temples with Dhaveira still using healing continually on him while holding him in a tight embrace.

"Oh, Marron!" I could feel my eyes water up and the tears begin to pour down my cheeks. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to electrocute you!"

"I am alright. Truly it wasn't that bad." He looks over to the bandits that were closer to me. "At least at this distance from where you were." He gives a small grin, "I am sure that I have suffered worse from Dhaveira when she was first learning her magic."

A laugh from Ilyriane brings some ease to the situation, "Yeah, your sister was quite the destructive force at first." I look at Dhaveira who wears a sheepish sort of grin and scratches the back of her head.

Dhaveira comes over to me, "Please don't be so hard on yourself, you can't have known what would happen." Her hand reaches towards me, but I am sure we all hear the sound that cause her hand to freeze mid-reach. Her gaze shifts to look at the edges of the forest where we entered the clearing, but I shift mine to the opposite side where I see the shadows begin to shift beyond the bushes and shrubs that line the forest's entrance.

I follow movement in the shadows across the line of trees to where I had been when I used that lightning magic. There I watch as the shadows part from the treeline and are revealed as bandits, terror fills me as I realize that all of the shadows are bandits hiding in the forest. Looking over to where I had been before to see the bandits converging on the more badly burned bodies of what I am sure used to be their comrades.

Fear grips me, how can we possibly survive this? There are so many of them and there is no way that I am going to risk using my magic so close to everyone. So, that makes my only option the sword and the meager skills that I have to use it. What's worse it that they are all ready to fight; weapons in hand and advancing steadily towards us.

They start to yell as they get closer, or were they yelling the whole time? I don't remember. My pounding heart keeps drowning out the other sounds in the clearing. That is until a screeching howl pierces the air. Everything in the clearing freezes, even the advancing brigands. What in the hell was that sound? I had never heard anything quite like before, but it carried a sense of foreboding with it.

Each of the people in the meadow begin to scan the sky. What? What could possibly be coming from… Wait… Didn't Arry saying something about a…

An ear shattering roar derails that thought and finishes it at the same time. A dragon.

A shadow passes over the clearing drawing my eyes skyward.

Another shriek fills the clearing causing the bandits to begin to scatter. Those who were still emerging from the forest were already gone and those who were closest to us race to the treeline. I turn to look all around the clearing to see where we could escape to when a hand grabs my arm and begins to pull me in the direction opposite from where I had been running before, I think.

A blast of heat before I could gather my bearings a face plant Himsulem right in the back, the momentum causing me to fall backwards to the hard ground. As I gather myself and begin to clamber back to my feet a hand is presented in front of me, I grasp it and am pulled to my feet. We had come to a complete stop, with no questions as to why because by looking around the area I come to the realization that we are entirely surrounded by fire.

I can't feel my legs. I turn to confirm that, yes, we are in fact entirely encircled by flames. Another roar from the skies cause me to duck and cover my head, not that that would prevent me from being this dragon's next under-fed snack. A gust of wind from my right brings the intense heat from the flames too close for comfort, I look to my left to se it dropping a bandit that it must have picked up on the way by. Gruesome. I guess it just wants to let us roast some before having its bit-sized people snack.

I am feeling about ready to accept my fate as fast food when the dragon swoops over us before landed heavily on the ground near the treeline and looking right at us. Yup. That is distressing and I am dead. I guess if it was Arry's destiny to die alone and cold, it must be my destiny to die surrounded by people and roasted.

If I weren't terrified that I would die in the next five minutes I would simply sit in awe. I can now understand why dragons are so legendary back home. The magnificent creature before us is a lovely burgundy and with a near pearlescent white on its underside and an onyx black. Its wingspan can only be described as majestic. Its head is wreathed with lethal horns and spikes that make their way down the length of the beast that look almost like the thorns on a rose.

My thoughts of doom are interrupted when a bright flash of light comes from the dragon. The dragon's shape becomes almost fluid looking, the light causing it to be hard to look at but it almost looks like the dragon is changing shape. In fact, I am certain that the dragon is getting smaller, but not only that… It almost looks like it is taking a human shape… Wait. That is definitely a human. That dragon has now become a person, who with a simple hand gesture extinguishes the entire ring of flames. However, the thing that really got my attention was how Dhaveira reacted to the appearance of this woman. Dhaveira seems to be in a sort of strained relaxation. Everyone else also seems to be almost relaxing but there is a sort of tension that still hangs around them. As for me? I don't know what to think. I literally just witnessed a dragon, fearsome and fire-breathing, turn into a strutting, and quite frankly intimidating, woman.

As she walks closer I can see that her hair style, while impossible looking, seems to mimic the shape that the dragon's horns had when she was… A dragon…

Her outfit also seems to almost mirror how she looked as a dragon, with the burgundy leather that has metal studs over the surface and with the neckline that has feathers coming from beneath it. With her walk and outfit, I can already tell that this is not a woman that you want to tangle with. Not counting the information that she can seemingly just up and turn into a dragon whenever she pleases. God, that would be so cool. I want to turn into a dragon too…

Wait… She had been walking towards us before. With all of us facing her and almost in a line, with myself further to the left side than in the middle. With that, I would have expected her to be walking towards the middle of the group to address us as a group which until this point had seemed her goal. But now I can see that she seems to be walking straight at me.

I hold a small hope that this isn't the case, at least until she stops right in front of me, holding my gaze with the piercingly goldenrod yellow eyes.


	9. Dumped

**Hello everyone! Thanks for keeping with this story despite the fact that I have been falling behind. I hope that you enjoy this chapter as well.**

 **Also check out LadyAudentium's story about Arryn if you haven't already!**

Chapter 9

Dhaveira and the others dipped into bows that caught me off guard. I turn my gaze back towards the graceful woman in front of us. She looks old but something about her has me doubting her age, she holds an air of almost youth about her but at the same time she emanates a sort of near limitless wisdom and knowledge. Not to mention how much the Dalish seem to respect her.

"Andaran atish'an, Asha'bellanar." Dhaveira said as she rose out of the bow. Asha'bellanar… This is the person who helped me before? I have to admit something feels different about her… And yet it somehow has almost a sense of familiarity, I recognize the feeling.

However, instead of any reply all this Asha'bellanar does is come right up to me and takes hold of my chin. Naturally, I am more than a little worried. Why did she just grab my face? She turns my face in a lovely variety of directions jerking in one direction before abruptly switching to the next direction. Now I worry a bit about whiplash… Just as suddenly she has me looking her right in the eye.

I can't look away, she holds my eyes with her own, her eyes scrutinizing me; analyzing me.

"I may be a shapeshifter, but I cannot become an elf. However, you seem to have become an exception, as you have changed since I last saw you." She jerks my head to the far left. What could she possibly mean? She releases my chin so suddenly that I almost don't notice that my freedom had been returned to me. "I seem to remember that you resembled a human more than one of the People." Oh… That… My left hand travels up to my ear.

She backs up from me a little to able to address us all and Dhaveira Replies to her, "The change occurred after you sealed her magic and the healing began. While tending her I noticed changes to her height and some slight changes to her body shape."

"I imagine that it came as quite a shock after you woke up, wasn't it?" I could hear a lilt of amusement in her voice, slight chuckles coming from her.

"I… Well… Yeah…" I could feel the sting of the pain that seems to be beginning to rise from the fact that I now look almost completely different.

"You will have to be less timid than that in the future if you wish to last on this world." Less timid? Really? She just came roaring in… Wait… She said 'world.'

"Wait… How do you know that?" All she does is look at me with those powerful eyes.

She looks me up and down like she is doing some kind of scan of my body, "I imagine the sudden introduction of magic that did not belong to you before caused the changed… Almost as if the magic and your body made a compromise." She ended that statement with some laughter, it almost holds a hint of craziness to it. She looks to me again with deeply scrutinizing eyes, "Unlike before, I can feel that the magic you hold is indeed your own now."

My own. Ha, if it were it wouldn't have ever hurt Marron. I look over to where Ilyriane now tends him. He is awake now at least… "I wonder about that…" I saying not quite under my breathe but not trying to make it heard either.

And more laughter, "Yes, it often power that is greater than one is ready for can seem to have a mind of its own. That is why I sealed much of it away. But I can see it didn't take… I wonder why that is." She gave a look that seemed almost shaming in a way. "The seal I had created would not have been lifted by the mere attack of these unfortunate bandits." A light chuckle issues from her direction. Who is this woman to be making light of all this death?

Dhaveira steps next to me, "There was an incident with a demon of despair. Asha'bellanar, is it possible that the power she holds is great enough to expel a demon even after it had taken hold?"

A cackle before she speaks, "A demon tried to posses her? I almost feel sorry for any demon that would try that…" She regains her composure after another cackle fit, "Possible? No, not merely possible I would say but a certainty, any demon who would dare to try and control that magic would be either daring or a fool." Demons can be fools? "So, girl. Did you expel a demon with your magic?" God, this woman is so intimidating, how do I even answer that?

"Uh, well… I don't know that I really consciously did that… I had been dreaming, then whatever it was… Took over I guess…"

"There is no guesswork over that, girl. That demon would not have taken over if you had not let it in. Especially since you seem to be disconnected from the Fade." The sudden sharpness of her tone startled me, her words causing shame to colour my face. "If you want to ever master your power, weakness of mind or emotion is not an option."

I allow myself a moment to soak in what she is saying. Which is that she is going to help me master my magic, to make sure that… My eyes wander to where Marron is being hoisted into a sitting position by his sister. At this point I don't think there is much of an option. I can't handle this power, not on my own; at least not right now. Not to mention that apparently, what I had learned with Keeper Narthes, his First and Dhaveira doesn't appear to apply to my specific magic.

Although, I doubt that this arrangement wouldn't be without its hardships. Hardships that I will now have to face alone. No one will help me through this, I have to carry myself past all the pain. No one will help me.

"Of course, you will also be expected to keep yourself taken care of. I am no nursemaid and will not tend to your needs. You have been living sheltered life until now," a laugh punctuates her statement, "I am not like the People." That was dreadfully apparent when she stormed onto the scene as a dragon.

I breathe in deeply, "What exactly would the terms of accepting your help be then?"

Her smile is as if she has won something, a prize or otherwise. "We can speak of that on the journey to a better location for you to learn at." After a pause where she evaluates me again, from top to bottom and back. "So, what is your name then, girl?"

"My name is Sophi'Gaelea, but I think that I want to be called only Gaelea." For the first time meaning it. I had preferred Sophi before and felt that being called Gaelea seemed unusual. But now, with everything that had happened, Sophi was in the past. Sophi is the girl that the Dalish took care of, but to survive this world I must become someone else. That can be Gaelea.

"I have many names that I have used as well, Gaelea, but you may call me Flemeth."

* * *

I knew that complaining wouldn't gain me any points so I kept every little thing to myself. Making for a very quiet journey.

We had separated from the Dalish group the day after Flemeth had come to me. That morning had been difficult. I was once again leaving something behind. I had decided to mark that as the moment that Sophi had died.

Flemeth hadn't been lying when she said that the Dalish had been kind to me, I had known that and yet I hadn't known how high of a degree that their kindness had been at. With Flemeth I had been doing everything myself, from hunting and skinning to washing my clothes and tending to my other belongings. The most difficult to take care of so far wasn't even the longsword that Himsulem had gifted me at my departure, but the tent that they had given to me. Every hole took so much effort to properly fix, or at least as properly fixed as I could manage. Now the tent couldn't even hold out rain reliably. What a failure of an outdoors-woman I have become. If only Sophi knew where I would end up, maybe she would have been a little more open to accompany Arry on more of her camping expeditions.

It had now been about three weeks since I had found her body. The empty space created by her absence has become easier to deal with. It still aches when I dwell on it but I have found lately the depression and loneliness isn't as grasping and doesn't have as tight of a grip on me. Instead, I accept the sadness as a part of me without allowing it to rule me.

It has only been about two weeks since Flemeth began to teach me. Every day is rigorous training, sometimes with my mind and my magic other days she even has me doing physical practice, with or without my sword. She has given some time for me to been alone, I usually just practice with my sword during those times anyway. If I want to survive for the both of us, then I must make sure that nothing like a simple bandit or bear can take that possibility away.

Flemeth isn't exactly direct in her teaching but it seems to be helping me with my magic regardless. Actually, since learning with her I have found myself learning more than in all my time with the Dalish. Although, before we even began she told me that for my own sake I should allow her to recreate the seal on my magic.

When we first arrived at this deeply hidden location she had a very serious discussion with me. Serious in that she only allowed some cackles and laughter to punctuate her speech. She asked about where I am really from and I told her the truth. I told her the truth because surely secrets don't remains as such for long with her. As a sort of exchange, she also shared with me some knowledge about who I am and why my magic is the way it is. The information she had shared with me had sent me reeling, I am still unsure as to whether I believe everything that she said to me. I mean some of it just sounds so out-there that were it not for how Arry and I had been wrenched from our home into this place then I am certain I wouldn't have even considered it a possibility.

Firstly, she told me that I had always had this magic, even back home it had just been biding its time inside me. This is the information tidbit that I was most accepting of.

Second. She told me that she is basically shares her body with an Elvhen goddess. Yep. A veritable goddess. The goddess' name is Mythal and that she has had a very long life working towards Mythal's vengeance for events that transpired in basically the pre-history eras of this world.

I wondered what all of that could possibly have to do with me. I mean Flemeth hardly seems the type to freely give information to anyone who it wouldn't pertain to. Well, that brings me to one of the most outlandish things that I had ever heard in my entire life. The one thing that is causing me to pause and actually consider it; Flemeth had begun that part of the conversation by asking how I am related to a certain "Ellasin'Gaelashavuna." That for the record, is my grandma Ella's full name. Flemeth knowing that name only makes sense with the story she spun.

Flemeth told me a story about the old elvhen gods and how they used to be. Personally, I thought it all sounded like it could have been a story about the strife that filled the stories of the ancient Greek pantheon of gods. She told me about how it had started with a war. A war that had been won by these gods, who were at the time very powerful mages. Mages who only gained more power after that point, eventually rising from the title of hero to holding the mantle of deity and being worshiped. Mythal and Elgar'nan were viewed as the leaders of the group and often as the "father" and "mother" of their family.

She also told me about how that empire fell when Mythal was betrayed and murdered by the more ruthless of the group and how Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf, then created the Veil separating the Fade and the physical realm. He also banished the other gods beyond the Fade.

Now for the outlandish bit. According to Mythal, who is inside and a part of Flemeth, she and Elgar'nan had another child after the war who had become the most powerful mage of the time, outmatching the entire combined power of the whole pantheon of the gods. While Mythal had known that this youngest of her children loved her dearly and hadn't played any part in Mythal's murder, she had also suffered the fate of being trapped beyond the Fade by Fen'Harel with the rest of them.

At the time, I had just thought, well that is a kind of sad and gruesome story; death, destruction and betrayal as well as the entire world getting caught up in one family's insane drama. Then she told me that this youngest child, the most powerful mage that has likely ever lived on this world, was named Ellasin'Gaelashavuna. Yep. Flemeth told me that not only was my grandma from this world I the first place but that she was the youngest child of two legitimate deities. That's right. Apparently, I am descended from gods. Literally.

Now if that wasn't enough to swallow she told me that grandma Ella had somehow given all of her magic to me. Yep. My grandma, who was apparently the most powerful mage ever had in a way bequeathed her magic to me.

For a change, it had been me laughing about the conversation, not Flemeth. That had been a little over two weeks ago, now. Not that time was making it any easier to believe her story.

After that we had created the seal, she said something along the lines of how before I had been unconscious so the seal had been incomplete in the first place, which is how it shattered so easily once my magic had actually tried to escape. Since I had been conscious this time the seal would be much more complete as I could actually use my magic to help Flemeth create the seal this time. She said that as I learn more control over my magic she will work with me to release the magic little by little. Not unlike the concepts at work when you slowly boil a frog, how it grows acclimated to the conditions at each interval before it dies of the heat. Which with every 'lesson' I have with Flemeth seems an even more appropriate analogy. Even now she has to actively adjust it, my magic apparently doesn't care to be sealed away like this, despite that it is more than I can handle right now.

Today Flemeth basically told me that I have learned enough that I need to enter the Fade. Because that never caused _any_ problems in the past. Naturally, however, she wasn't taking any nervousness. She pretty well told me that I need to grow a pair. That doesn't make the Fade any easier to enter. Honestly, I am not sure I believe the fact that everyone here, except Dwarves apparently, dream in the Fade. Flemeth basically told me to relax entirely without falling asleep. In essence, she wants me to meditate.

I know that back home, meditation never really got me anything. I had dabble in regular meditation, but I had never experienced any of the relaxation or other benefits that were supposedly what made meditation popular to so many groups. And to think, if I had just had my entire lifetime in this ridiculous place it would be as easy as falling asleep. Literally.

So, here I sit. In a forest. Next to a stream. Trying to not fall asleep whilst trying to accomplish the same thing that others here do… By falling asleep.

"Argh!" I let myself fall backwards onto the grass and look up at the clear blue sky. From what I can remember when I was trying meditation back home the key is to not think about anything. Apparently, this is not the case when trying to enter the Fade through non-traditional methods.

I rest my arm on my forehead. How could relaxing be this complicated?

The sensation of someone grabbing me by the arms and pulling gets me into a standing position right quick.

But alas, all that is around me are the trees and the…. Wait… The stream is gone. I turn full circle to check every spot. Nope, the stream is gone. I scrutinize every other detail other things are… Off. Not in any truly distinctive way but enough that it seems to have made a difference.

Wait a minute…. I take another full turn around. Am I in the Fade? Did I actually make it through?

A shadow in the trees halts any celebration that I may have had. I get into a ready stance, preparing magic in my hands, at least that still works here…

A man comes through the trees and past the bushes. He obviously wants to keep his identity secret as he has some kind of mask that obscures a fair portion of his face. The mask is a wolf's head with black fur that leads into a sort of cape. Only… The wolf's head has too many eyes.

"I thought you could use some aid in reaching this place." His voice sounds wise. Maybe he is a spirit…

I keep my guard up, "So this is the Fade then?"

"Yes, this is the Fade." There is also something of amusement in his voice. Almost as if he finds the fact that I had so much trouble getting here amusing. Great, another goodness knows how old +whatever amused by my inexperience, as if dealing with Flemeth wasn't difficult enough. "I found myself intrigued by the presence that is separate from the Fade. The same presence that roused me from a very long slumber."

What? I think he just told me that I woke him up from sleeping… Although he said it as though it has more weight in meaning than I am picking up. Maybe he had a test he had to get enough sleep for…

I narrow my eyes at him, "You say that as if by waking you up somehow caused a shift in the universe. How exactly did I wake you up? I don't think I've ever met you before."

He stands in a very professional manner, hands clasped behind his back with his feet about shoulder width apart. He seems fairly average in size, from where I stand a little less than ten feet away from him, a couple of inches taller than me. Build-wise, he doesn't seem very muscular the cloak definitely adding to his appearance.

"I have been asleep for a very long time and it was your magic piercing through the Fade that woke me. Your magic is very unique and when I sensed you attempting to enter the Fade I found it curious that you had to exert such effort to accomplish the task and still fail." Wait… He said 'still fail.'

"Wait, I thought you said this _is_ the Fade. If I failed how did I end up here?"

He casually shifts his weight from one foot to another, "As I said, I thought you could use some help reaching the Fade, so I simply reach with my own magic and opened the way for you." Damn it. So not only did I fail to do the task, but ended up needing help to get to the Fade. If I tell Flemeth that she might just kick me out… I look to the ground I can feel my face heating with the shame.

As if giving me a moment to deliberate this he gives a noticeable pause as he shifts his weight again. "If I may…" My eyes shoot back up to what I can see of his face, namely his mouth and chin; which has a dimple right the middle of the cleft. "How exactly is it that you were having so much trouble getting into the Fade? Mages are inherently connected to the Fade and should have even less trouble than others who dream here."

"Well…" I reach my hand up behind my neck, "I am not exactly sure why it is so difficult. I mean I have been trying to get here since my first teacher told me that I might need to… And…" I stop abruptly, I don't know this person. I look him up and down again, how can I possibly know if he is trustworthy?

"No doubt you question whether you can trust me. I can go on about how you can trust me, but I could also show you by guiding you in how to get back here on your own."

Now he really had my attention, learning how to get here on my own might rectify the whole I-needed-help-to -get-here-in-the-first-place thing.

"Go on…" I look him in the too-many eyes and see a slight smile stretch across his face.

* * *

It went on like that for another couple of weeks. Flemeth's "lessons" continuing sporadically while in the mean time I was in the Fade learning additional magic from the man in there, who introduced himself as Fen'Harel. And… If memory serves me right Fen'Harel was one of the names from the Elven beliefs. So apparently now I am not only descended and learning from Mythal but I am also learning from Fen'Harel. Both of whom have passed into the myths and legends status of this world.

Flemeth had at one point taken me to a city nearby called Highever. She had taken me around the city and instructed me on the use of currency in Fereldan, we bought some food and other essentials that had started running low. I am not sure how but she didn't draw as much attention as I thought she would, there came a point where I began to wonder whether the other people could even see her, which when said in regards to that woman doesn't sound nearly as outlandish as it might.

We also went to a tailor there who made me a few selections of clothing to replace the now ratty clothes that the Dalish had gotten for me, which the tailor mended. The tailor, Adora, had been kind and bubbly person who had helped with passion and enthusiasm after Flemeth had left me with her to do some other errands. Adora had made me three shirts, three pants and various undergarments. She also showed exactly how to tend and wash them in a way that would ensure they last. All my clothes were of muted colours; olives, tans and browns. They all can be minimally adjusted as well through the laces that tie them shut.

Flemeth later had me purchase some armor as well but not a full set just some pieces that could easily be put on with my clothes and offer some extra protection without getting in the way. She mentioned that I could get my own full set later on if I really wanted it.

While there I had met a small homeless girl, whose parents couldn't afford a house after returning to Fereldan. They had fled the kingdom during something called the Blight. On the way back to our camp-type area I asked her about the Blight and she gave me a basic run down of what it was, all the while seeming very irritated. Luckily the irritation wasn't directed at me, rather at the mages who upon entering the Fade physically had corrupted a place called 'the Golden City' causing the Blight to begin.

Flemeth taught me that the Blights come every few centuries and are almost always a huge threat to life on the whole world. Although the last Blight lasted a short time stretching slightly over one year. With the longest Blight, the first one, lasting almost two-hundred years.

There were lessons on geography and other types of basic lessons, more of what I learned with the Dalish.

That brings us to this point.

I open my eyes blinking away the light spots from the bright afternoon sun. It was always kind of shocking to come out of the Fade into the brightly lit afternoons. I was beginning to warm up to the Fade, although its first impression on me has been lasting. One does not easily forget that kind of nightmare world. Although, in my recent ventures to the Fade, Fen'Harel told me that the Fade is entirely subjective to the person visiting. He even showed me how to create places from my imagination and memories. Yes, it's all very "Inception."

In fact, I just came back from a trip to the Fade where I tried my hand at recreating a clear image of home. That is until Fen'Harel came, then my concentration went kaput; poof went the images of home. After a typical chuckle, we started my lesson.

Now here I sit yet again, the stream bubbling next to me and the wind rustles the leaves on the trees encircling my area. If anything is a silver lining to this story of woe and depression at least this place is quiet. Not to mention the clear air, even in the most remote places I have ever been don't compare. That part of me is the part that feels like it might not be so terrible to deal with making a life here. However, the rational and logical part of me knows that at any cost I must find a way back home; and surely in a world this steeped in magic there must be something that will tell me how to get there.

That is my one truth here. I need to get home and if I don't there is no guarantee that I will even see my next birthday; not that I even know when that equivalent day is here.

I stand quietly, waiting. Listening to make sure that there weren't any people or animals too close before I start my trek back to the camp area where Flemeth may or may not be waiting for me.

Coming into the camp I am met with the sight of Flemeth appearing through the wispy smoke that she often chose to use when she wasn't going somewhere with me.

"Finished with your lessons in the Fade, are you?" I feel my heart skip a few beats. Shit. She knows about that? An internal grumble, of _course_ she knows about that.

"Yeah… Uh, how much do you know about that, exactly?" I had learnt fairly quickly that if I am not concise and explicit in what I am asking her, Flemeth may choose to be vague; when she chooses to answer at all that is.

A cackle starts her dialogue as per usual, "Well, I knew almost immediately of course. With your magic, there's no way that you got into the Fade on your own, being as separate from it as you are." Of course. Of course, she wouldn't tell me that it would be next to impossible for me to get to the Fade on my own. "I had intended on helping you myself to being with. But when I got there I noticed that you were already conversing with an old friend." And naturally she knows the man from elven myth, I mean I didn't expect them to _not_ know each other but… "I understand he has also been imparting some magic lessons to you as well." She sprinkles light chuckles throughout the conversation, as one-sided as it has become.

"Well, yeah…" Feeling sheepish, I hadn't told her about at all, but it turns out that she knew about it anyway. This is worse than my mom and secrets. At least with my mom I could generally hide the worst stuff but with this woman, who was quickly earning my deep trust and caring, secrets are revealed before they even can have a chance at the title.

There is a part of that wants to say she cares about me as well, but I am not always certain.

This is how we entered into me learning more of my skill with her.

After we were finished, I began cooking for the evening. I was never exactly the most talented cook but I have learnt some of how to prepare a fairly tasty meal with minimal resources.

While we were eating, she brought up the whole Fen'Harel business.

"So, what exactly was it that inclined you to trust Fen'Harel when he approached you in the Fade?" While her speaking remained light, but less cackle-filled than usual, I could feel a trap being laid out between the lines of her speech. I must tread carefully.

"Well, I mean he had already pulled me into the Fade, he could have done much worse already by that point." I pause to look at her and she looks back at me with a mixture of curiosity and something that I would almost call deep caring, but I really couldn't be sure. "Although, I did exactly say everything about me in one fell swoop."

This induced a sharp bark of a laugh, "You did not make him try very hard either before trusting though." Oh, dear. The trap… I think I was already in it when this conversation began.

"Ah… Well…" Nope, there's no use. I am well and fully trapped. She got me. I trusted Fen'Harel after only a couple of meetings in the Fade. "Well, I still haven't told him where I really came from. Not that anyone besides you would even remotely believe me if I said anything."

The loose cackles return to her speech, "Yes, but you entrusted your spirit to his presence and in doing so you could have effectively lost yourself, you are lucky that that particular man is fairly trustworthy in the first place." Oh boy, I am in deep. I could feel her words quickening the pace of my heart. She wouldn't have brought this up for no reason though… Remaining silent I let her continue the onslaught. "I had hoped to convince you to leave such naivety in the past with your friend." She pauses to let the sting of the past set in. "I had thought that it was that locket you wear day and night, but I think that the problem is deeper than that. I believe that it is a remainder from your home. Are all the people there as trusting as you are, girl?"

While the sting of Arry's death still feels fresh, I can feel the truth ringing in her words. "Well, there… Not everything is so dangerous. People are generally trustworthy and even if they aren't and you trust the wrong person it usually doesn't end with anything more than hurt feelings."

"Ha! Yes, here a betrayal can end with much worse than 'hurt feelings.'" Of course, following this statement was a string of laughter. "You must understand that here placing your trust in the wrong person but once could mean your death." The statement almost brought something of pain to her face, I wonder if it is Flemeth or Mythal showing that emotion, perhaps it is both.

She must have made her point because she stopped speaking. She reached into a pouch at her hip and pulled out a pendant the size of her palm that boasted an ovoid-shaped faceted gem. The gem is a greyish colour that shines in a multitude of green hues. The stone has a gold feather that wraps around it with the base of the feather where the chain holds it, with it wrapping around the bottom and the tip ending just at the three-quarters the way around the stone. She holds it out to me by the long gold chain.

"This is a stormheart stone. I had it fashioned into a pendant to act as an anchor for the seal on your magic. It is a piece of stormheart that I found where your magic had first awoken. When it had rather explosively awakened from within you. This stone was then directly imbued with your magic in its rawest form. All I had to do was work a little of my own magic on it so that now it will act as a stabilizer for the seal that I placed on your magic." I reach out and gently take the stone from her, it seems weighty for its size but beautiful either way, the stone reminds me slightly of labradorite from back home, only this stone has more of a green tone whereas labradorite has a royal blue tone to its grey.

Wait… If she is giving me something that can control the fluctuations in the seal on my magic in her place… Then where does she plan on being?

"Uh… Thank you, Flemeth. It's a beautiful pendant…" I tilt the stone letting the light catch at different angles to explore all the changes and aspects of the crystal.

She looks at me expectantly, "I can practically feel the question. You may ask it."

"Oh… Well, I just… Where _are_ you going then?"

"You shouldn't doubt your intuition, it rarely steers you wrong. If anything, trust that." A moment of that deep caring seeps into her speech. "However, that trusting nature of yours must change and I now realize that being here will not change how you trust people." She resumes her usual speech, the cackles and chuckles that comes naturally to her flow through her speaking.

Although I am not sure what she is getting at… I don't really understand how my 'trusting nature' could affect how I live through my time in this world until I find a way back home.

"Now, I have some other thing that require my attention. In this time of turbulence in Thedas, I need to keep my attention on many. Your naivety must be remedied as I cannot tend to your mistakes."

I look down, 'remedied' so now my trust is something of an illness that must be cured?

"I would suggest that you start by going to Highever. It is at least a place that you know how to get to on your own and would be a good place to begin." Uh… Begin? "I shall provide you with some money as well, as you don't have any of the skills that would be required for work. For now, anyway." I am liking the sound of this less and less the more she continues.

"Wait… Are you saying that you want me to go to Highever… Alone?" I look at her, my heart already pounding in my chest.

A sharp cackle answers my question, "As I said when we first met, Gaelea, I will not play nursemaid. However, to continue you being able to fend for yourself you must learn more about Thedas. Namely, how you fit into this place. Preferably without dying, of course." Shit. She wants me to experience Thedas. Like I am some kind of tourist. "If you remain ignorant as you are, you will not last long enough to make it back to your home." Ouch. But again, her words ring with the truth. A truth that I have known this whole time. Without changing and becoming something else… I won't survive this place.

She quietly observes me as I works through the information I already know as it combines with what she said. "As it is I suggest you leave here no later than the first light tomorrow." She stands from the log she had been sitting on.

"Woah, wait! You mean you're leaving tonight? And that's it?" I stand up the campfire between us.

"Yes." She turns to walk towards the forest, "But don't think that you can escape learning magic, I expect you to be better at magic by the next time we meet."

"But how will I know when that is even?" I look at her, I am trying not to let the desperation show but I am sure she can see it growing in my eyes.

"Don't worry, I will find you when its time."

She walks forward, the wispy black smoke starting at her feet and working upwards until she is consumed by it entirely. By the time it dissipates, she had already gone.


	10. On My Own

**Hello everyone! Thanks for keeping with the story! I hope that you enjoy this chapter as much as I did! Also, I really love to hear your opinions on Sophi's progress, let me know what you think!**

 **I would also like to thank leniaanaa on Tumblr for the Travel Times in Thedas post! That is where I got the travel times mentioned in this chapter.**

 **Don't forget to keep up with Arryn Mauntelle's story as well!**

 **Thank you so much!**

Chapter 10

Well… I mean all things considered things haven't gone horribly yet. The tent's leaks at least didn't get worse. However, I can't help but feel the threats in this world have gotten almost oppressive.

Flemeth had told me that my best bet would be to leave right at dawn. Ha. Get up before dawn in order to be packed up and on the road by dawn. That is not going to happen. No way.

Now, there is a distinct possibility that I may regret this later on but right now I don't regret it in the least. Picking up the last of my meager possessions and putting them in the leather pack that the Dalish clan had given to me.

I hold up the pendant she gave me last night. It has a shimmer to it but the shimmer isn't uniform, it is more like how the Milky Way appears in the night sky, higher concentrations of shimmer in some spots over others. I slip the chain over my head and let the pendant hang. The gold chain is long enough that the pendant hangs level with my breast.

I pull the collar of my shirt forward and drop the pendant inside where it joins Arry's locket. It's cold when it first touches my skin but it warms quickly. I am not sure what it is about the stone, maybe it is what Flemeth meant when she said that this stone had been 'imbued' with my magic, but somehow I feel connected to it.

I check my bracers and other cured leather armor items are put on the way the armorer had shown me; tight but comfortable. I put one sword with my belt in its sheathe and the other attached to my bag. Over all of this I put my travel coat and after that I pull the straps of my bag over my shoulders the weight throws me off balance for a moment before I manage to hold myself up. The weight of everything I need to carry on my own is going to make this trip something of a nightmare.

I wonder how long I will make it before my legs are screaming for their first break…

* * *

For the record, I did get further than I had anticipated. I managed to force myself to walk at least for what I can only guess was a couple of hours.

Getting to the road from our remote camping location was the most trying section of walking. I hadn't owned quite as much stuff when we had first gotten to this point, but without anyone there to pressure me to keep going I let the weight of my possessions bring me to a stop. At least until I have eaten something.

I had gotten to the road maybe twenty or thirty minutes ago but I decided to go about five minutes off the road before sitting down to take my break and eat something.

I sit and as I relax for a moment the truth comes crashing down on top of me. I am alone. Completely alone. Flemeth is not waiting around the next bend for me to catch up. There isn't even a place that I will be returning to at the end of the day. I don't have a home. I don't have and friends. I don't have any family. Not here.

Suddenly the forest feels very constricting. Every sound seems to be threatening.

This only makes one thing starkly apparent, that I need to get to Highever before the day is out. I don't think I can handle being alone in an unfamiliar forest overnight.

I pack my things back up and with a small amount of jerky in hand I trudge through the brush to the road.

* * *

Well, I managed to make within view of the city before the sun set. And by 'before the sunset' I mean the very last light of the Sun had left the edges of the horizon only moments after I had come over a rise bringing the city into view.

Getting into proved pretty easy, there hadn't been any crowds to fight on the way in. Although, I imagine that that was in part thanks to the fact that it took me until it had gotten dark to get to the gate.

Now, however, it seems that I have gotten myself quite entirely turn around. I must have taken a wrong turn back there… Or maybe I missed the turn.

Damn it…. I am so lost!

I thought that the inn was just around the last corner and when I came around it, alas, no inn. The only thing around that corner had been another corner and a back alley. Not to mention that now I seem to have meandered into a more shady and unwelcoming area of Highever. Every sound from behind the corners and buildings cause my hairs to rise and prickle over my skin.

I turn around to make my way back to the empty market that I had just left, only to find the blocked by a group of people. Uh oh… That can't be good. Hmm… Now what?

I continue down the dark road. Hopefully I can meander my way right back out of this area if I… Take this right turn. Shit!

A dead end… Uh… I unmake that turn and begin to canter down the alleyway. I turn at the next right with success to find a wider road with a few more people walking around. Okay… I keep my pace in order to put as much space between me and that other group as possible, even though I am not even sure that they were actually following me but better safe than sorry. Right?

I continue down the road, hopefully to the promised inn.

Although I seem to have come across some docks. But that isn't what grabs my attention, what does is the sound of a bunch of people rushing towards where I am. I hustle towards some buildings nearby and hide behind the edge of a corner to see a whole group of people race over to one of the ships that looks ready to cast off.

Among the people is a monstrously tall, muscular man… Who has horns jutting out of the sides of his head. Yeah… Those are definitely horns… The next is a man whose blond hair is lit up by the torch he passes and he stops next to the horned man seeming to be waiting for someone else. Two more stop just before the light of the torch can fully reveal them but they are close enough to it that I can make out a few details. There is a man and a woman there, I can tell the man is an elf by the pointed ears and he has blond hair as well. The woman's hair is a shade of black that shines a lovely blue colour. They talk for a moment before the man takes her in for a tight hug which he gracefully turns into a passionate kiss.

I turn away from the scene, I don't need to see the passionate make-out session of a couple of lovers who seem to be in the process of being separated.

I turn around and continue down the road I find behind me. I am not sure for how long I ended up walking but I found that I came across no inn.

And unfortunately, after about five more minutes of very-lost walking, I have noticed that there are in fact some people following me. I confirmed it when I took some rather interesting turns only to find that they are still there. Although, I am not entirely certain as to how I can rid myself of these undesirable tails.

"Psst!" A moment of confusion as I look around trying to find the source of the beckoning sound, a vagrant I'm sure. Alas, when I find the source, I find that it is a child at the edge of the road leaning against the wall of a rather decrepit building.

"Uh… Were you 'psst-ing' me?" The child, a young girl who I'd say is no more than twelve years-old, who is wearing ragged and dirty clothes. Is she homeless? Where are her parents?

"Yes, miss. I was." She comes up to me and links arms with me, her voice light and energetic. She is a good few inches shorter than I am, if I hadn't grown taller I would probably just an inch or two taller. "I saw you a few buildings back that way," She gestures in front and to the right of us. I was over there? Shit, I am even more hopelessly lost than I thought. She pulls on my arm urging me forward, "I can see that Barren's gang has caught on to you. They don't much like elves." Elves? Oh… Right. I use my free hand to feel the length of my ear. "They give any elf a hard time, even my mom gets a bit of trouble."

"Oh… I suppose that does make me something of a target for them, although I'm sure that it doesn't help that I am evidently very lost." The pointed ears must be something of a recessive gene then, as her ears are the rounded ears that I used to have myself and would apparently have saved me from this particular trouble. She has deep brown eyes, raven black hair and from what I can see in this lighting her skin is a light bronze colour.

"Oh, yes. Even I noticed it." She even giggles a little bit. God, this is humiliating. I am so lost that even a little girl felt enough pity for me that she has put herself in a measure of danger. "Where exactly were you trying to get to?"

"Well, I know there's an inn somewhere along the marketplace road…" She giggles a little more. Oh, good, and here we have a little Flemeth. She even giggles at my mistakes! But I can't help but let a small giggle escape. "I took one wrong turn and before I knew those tails showed up."

"Well, I think I know which one you were looking for but that makes you even more lost than I originally thought you were." Oh good. 'More Lost' than apparently I thought I was. "Wow… I didn't even know it was possible to get _that_ lost!" As we round the next corner I look at the road behind us. There I can see that my tails had lost interest and were now bothering someone leaning against another building.

"Barren and his lackeys aren't the type you want to have the attention of… That is unless you are actually a very skilled fighter." She slightly distances herself from me to make a sort of evaluation I suppose. "And no offense… But you don't exactly look skilled."

Well, I guess she's not wrong… I mean I can hold my own against Himsulem now, even when he says he isn't holding back. Also, the bandits that had attacked us in the clearing hadn't seemed too difficult to deal with. On the other hand though, those guys didn't look like they would be fighting fairly. In fact, I wouldn't doubt that they would use dirty, backhanded ways in order to win a fight or take down a lesser opponent.

I look over at her and reply, "I'm not exactly unskilled… But I think that I probably couldn't win in a fight with them as I am now…" Especially since with the bandits I'd had the use of my magic in it fullest. Now with it being sealed as it is, while still powerful it is nearly as potent and won't down a dozen people in one fell swoop.

She looks me in the eye, "Yeah, that lot doesn't exactly fight fair." We round another corner before she turns me to face a building that looks fairly lively for the time of night. "Well, here we are! You are officially not lost, congratulations!" She puts her hands on her hips in victory.

"Thank you. I am not sure I would have lasted the night if you hadn't intervened. Pretty pathetic, eh?" I look down, how am I going to survive this place? I couldn't even find an inn in a city I had already visited before. This is going to be more difficult than I originally thought.

I reach into the pocket on the inside of my travel coat to grab a small pouch of coins, that holds about ten of the silver coins. For my own insurance, I had stored all of my money in a variety of locations on my person so that I never lose all of it at once. I mean, travelling as a rich person had its perks but I learnt a long time ago not to keep all my money in one spot.

I pass her the small pouch and I also reach for some of the jerky that I have left.

"I know it isn't much but it is what I can spare for your help." I could see her face light up, I am not sure if she was expecting to get a reward but I might as well give her what I can for saving my neck.

"Well, hey… You mostly know how to find if you need help again." She hopped a couple of times before sauntering down the back alley that we had come from.

I look up at the building, The Red Raven Inn and Tavern. I step up to the door and step inside. The inside is homey and warm, with decorations that are very Montana's-esque. Meaning wooden walls with the heads of animals adorn the walls, as trophies of the hunt, with a cozy fire burning in the hearth.

Hopefully I can get a room, especially after all that trouble.

* * *

Now that the city is bathed in sunlight it is much easier to navigate. The twists and turns don't seem quite as complicated as they had last night when I had arrived. I stroll through the market, not really sure what to do with my life. I peruse the items at each market stall where there is everything from a farmer's weekly harvest of vegetables and a smithy's stand boasting weapons and armor of all shapes and sizes.

The market is full of people, some bartering for items at the stalls and others who are just chatting wit each other. The sounds of the marketplace are almost loud enough to cover up the sounds of the sea that is further down the way.

I look between some buildings and catch a glimpse of the water and make the decision to go see the sea.

I can hear someone yelling in the distance loudly but not loud enough for me to make out the words. But I can tell that it is getting closer to me as I head towards the docks.

I come to an intersection where I can choose to go left or right, and so I exercise the strength of my new hearing to try and find which way will take me to the docks. One direction I can hear more of the sounds of the city, but in the other direction I can actually the faint sounds of the water lapping against rocks and the wood of ships. Aha! Right it is.

I begin walking down the road hopefully towards the docks. I allow myself to settle into listening my way to the docks. I hold the sealing pendant in my hand, running my fingers over the surface and exploring it. I find it comforting, the feeling that I get as I hold it is something of a warm embrace. I hadn't taken it off this entire time; even at night, which is unlike me. As I walk along an impact slams me into the wall of a building and then to the ground. Slightly dazed, I try to bring myself upright.

"How dare you even touch me! You a lowly peasant doesn't even deserve to bask in my presence!" The thick French-like accent draws my attention and I look up to see the most pompous looking clown I have ever laid my eyes on. I see him taking me in, I am not sure that he can get his nose much higher than it is but he certainly seems to be trying. All in all, there is really no other way to describe the over-the-top gaudiness that he has used to adorn himself in. Luckily, I had studied something of art history and can recognize his outfit to resemble something right out of an extravagant French 18th or 19th century Rococo or Baroque style painting.

With the puffed-out shoulders, the ornately navy blue and gold waistcoat and the way his black with gold brocade design pants are tucked into the white leggings and some supple leather shoes that some gaudy gold embellishments. Yep. He looks like a clown.

"You are but a lowly peasant and do not have the station to interact with me, Lord Richomme of the Orlesian Court! Now here you are knocking me down like a common filthy peasant!" I takes a moment to breathe, I would try to see his face were it not for the shining silver mask that obscures most of it, but I can tell that his eyes are that unsettling shade of light blue that has almost always made me uncomfortable. I can also see the delicately trimmed, white goatee and gringo moustache. Also… Peasant? Is that really the worst insult that he can throw at me?

"Sorry, but I'm almost entirely certain that it was you who just tried to run me over. So, I would appreciate it if you didn't go throwing accusations at me. Or is it that you truly think that I was at fault due to the fact that you seem to have nothing but hot air in that big, old head of yours? Surely that must be the case, otherwise you would have thought of a better insult than to simply call me poor."

Satisfaction filled me right up as I see him physically recoil from my jab at his intelligence.

"Why you little tramp!" Oh boy! He called me a tramp. I wonder what deep crevice he pulled that out of… One of his attendants puts a hand on his shoulder before the man could finish reaching for a slight rapier at the man's waist. The man whispers something in his ear which seems to get the gears turning in the petty man's tiny brain.

After they finish whispering to each other the Richomme snaps to his other nursemaids and the actually fairly imposing figures of his guard troop begin to maneuver in the narrow road to positions that are advantageous to stop me from running away. I may not have my sword with me, but I always have my magic. I mentally prepare myself to use it in the situation that they attempt something.

"My advisor has reminded me that I have suffered a fairly significant loss recently and need to replace the item in my collection. You may not be as uniquely ravishing as my last conquest but I imagine that you would clean up quite nicely in some Orlesian gowns." Wait… What? Collection? I really don't like the sound of that, I take a step backwards. His guards grab at my arms, latching on with tight grips.

I begin to summon the cold of ice magic to my hands when the grip of the guard holding my right arm slackens and he falls to the ground. I look to the road behind where he was to see the barkeep from the Red Raven standing there. He has brown hair that falls to about his shoulders and is braided in a couple of places with hazel eyes. Not to mention the fairly thick muscles on his arms that are likely responsible for the now unconscious guard at my feet.

"Richomme, right? Haven't you already had a major loss here? Shouldn't you simply be on your way back to your frilly house in Orlais?" His deep voice resonates in the space between him and the rest of us. He steps aggressively towards the guards still latched onto my left lets go and takes a couple of fearful steps back. I rub my arm where the hand print begins to fade. "You best be on your way before I get the city guard involved. Shall we bet on who they side with? The trusted lifelong barkeep who grew up with most of them, or the stuffed-up Orlesian noble who has caused nothing but trouble since his arrival? I wonder who they will side with… Hmm…"

I can see the effect that those words had on the lot of them. Richomme scoffs, barring his too perfect teeth before snapping his fingers at his nursemaids. The one on my left grabs the KO guy from in front of me before they hightail it down the road, almost leaving a cloud of dust.

He steps further into the road, "They didn't do anything permanent?" He crosses his arms in front of me.

"Uh… I don't think so…" I look at the now fairly red hand shapes developing on my arms, "Nothing that wont fade soon anyway."

"You don't have very good luck do you?" He tilts his head at me before jerking it in his direction for me to follow him, I oblige. "That lord was made a fool of last night when a girl he had basically abducted escaped. I personally detest the man so I am not sorry to see him lose so publicly, but it did put you in a rather unfortunate position of almost filling that hole."

Oh, my God… He was meaning to take me in order to replace the girl he had lost. Oh… I wonder if that was who I saw last night escaping on the ship…

"I'll walk you back to the market. I was just on my way there from the docks, heading to my tavern. You _are_ the girl who arrived last night, right?" He wasn't sure? Wow… He stepped in without even knowing for sure who I was.

"Oh, yeah. I got in late last night. Rented the room on the second floor at the end of the hall."

"Alright, well let's see if we can get back there without any further incident." And so back to the tavern we go, although I will admit that in his company I do feel safer than I have for a long time.

* * *

I stroll back into the city after another day of helping out people on the road. This time I had helped a farmer fend off some wolves while he made his way back to his home from Highever and I had helped a family get to Highever from a village near the farmer's home.

It has been about a week since I arrived at Highever myself, but I had quickly lost patience with trying to figure out what to do. Flemeth had suggested to come here first, so here I came. However, after three days of nothing but sitting around I found myself bored out of my mind. So, I decided to begin an endeavor to at least make myself useful. Someone at the tavern on my third night had said something about people having trouble getting to the city and that some of those people had been offering pay to be escorted to the city safely.

I collect the amount of coin they had promised me, I hadn't been too worried about making a whole bunch of money so I do pick and choose my jobs by how much the person is paying. I now know that there are other people doing the same as me but being pickier about being paid lots to do the job. Although for me, I am also improving my skills and stamina every time I go out on the trek to the nearby towns and settlements to find work.

For this job, I ended up with an additional twenty of the silver coins, from what I know of the currency it isn't a whole lot of money but the family I helped this time isn't exactly well-off and they needed to get to the port in Highever. As a result, none of the other people, I suppose you could call them mercenaries, had taken the job. So, I jumped in and helped them out for a sort of minimum payment deal.

But with the rumors of slaver activity in the area many more people had been asking for help going from place to place. No one wants to be taken away from their life to become a slave.

I wonder what kind of taxes this kind of job would get back home… What would I have to pay to effectively run a sort of protection company on my own…

The only thing that keeps me from shutting myself up in one place and dying is the hope that I can make it home one day. I have been asking Jonas about where I can learn or read about all that kind of stuff but he told me about how the Circle of Magi had been dissolved. If anyone would have books or other material about the Fade and other realms it would be the Circle Towers throughout Orlais and Fereldan.

Apparently, the Circle of Magi had been a sort of branch off of the Chantry of Andraste. The Chantry is the main religion in Thedas right now and features the worship of Andraste who had been a woman prophet for the Maker that led a rebellion against the Tevinter Imperium. They had burned her and she became a martyr. The Chantry focuses its religion on the 'Chant of Light' that contains all of Andraste's teachings. This 'Circle of Magi' had been where all mages were supposed to go to learn how to use and control their magic in the safety of a tower where they were basically under surveillance twenty-four-seven, with next to no freedom.

Another branch of this Chantry is the Templar organization. Now I may be biased from playing the Assassin's Creed games, but I don't much like the sound of them. Jonas explained however, that they are more a group that is meant to protect people. Whether that protection is wanted or not seems to be a developing problem though, especially since the Circle of Magi had ceased to exist.

Jonas is a pretty accepting guy, I would put him around the late thirties mark, which means he was probably a young man when the… Fifth Blight had struck Fereldan. Aha! I can remember things, at least my knack for remember stuff like that didn't change with the rest of me. Looking at him now I realize that while the arm muscles are useful for knocking out Orlesian nursemaids, they are probably also useful for dispelling unwanted barfights.

Anyway, he just seems to accept my apparent ignorance of some things. More often than not I can recall certain things about this world to bring up in conversation so that I can learn fairly quickly. This considered, my evenings at the bar have essentially turned into impromptu lessons on all things Thedas.

Although, the more I learn the more I realize that I need to go further than just Highever. I need to travel in order to find a way home. If there is a way to get home that is… I can be sure that I won't find by staying in one place anyway.

Another now common presence in my current life is Sorcha. She had told me the other night about how her parents had been uprooted during the Fifth Blight and that they had fled to the Free Marches to the north with her as a baby. Although they had moved to Highever after just two years away, so she had spent most of her life in Highever. Unfortunately, her parents had lost their home and everything inside so they had live in Highever doing what they could. Because of that, Sorcha and her parents had been living on the streets ever since then, doing what they could to earn food and sometimes even sparse shelter.

When she had been telling me about all that I didn't even know how to react. I know that at home homelessness is a huge problem too, but to be honest I had never really been exposed to it before. I almost regret the way I grew up, despite missing the ease of being immensely rich, after I had gotten cut off my eyes had been opened to the rest of the world. I had been naïve then… About so many things… Although I made the decision to help Sorcha and her family as much as I could before I leave. I know that anything I do won't impact the problem but at least I can help the person in front of me.

Naturally, my Fade meetings and lessons with Fen'Harel haven't stopped. I still am learning magic and other subjects from him… Just as Flemeth said I should. We generally meet in the evening after my supper. I go up to my rented room and meditate to get into the Fade. I will admit that I am a little jealous that mages here essentially just need to fall asleep to get to the Fade. Although, I haven't missed a day yet and neither has he. Every evening we meet in the Fade, sometimes I am there first and other times he is there first. On the times I get there first I practice making the Fade appear as I want it to. The evening before last I even fairly successfully recreated how home looks when he arrived.

I walk down the road towards the inn, now that I know the way myself, when Sorcha comes out from the alley way to my right.

"Gaelea! Where were you today?" I had learned that she is in fact twelve years-old. Which explains why her energy is so infectious as she skips out of the alley.

"Oh, you know… I went to some small settlement with a farmer and came back with a family who are probably about to get on the next ship outta here." I look at her and she just stares at me. "What?"

"You're so brave… You have been going in and out of the city so easily alone. I'm too frightened to even take a step out there if my parents aren't with me." She looks at the ground, almost in shame. Good grief! She is only twelve and she thinks she needs to be brave enough to leave the city on her own.

"Hey, hey… You're twelve years-old, I mean you have so much time to gain courage." I can see a light start in her face and I reach for and lift her hand up in front of her, "I'll bet that in time you'll have more courage in one of your fingers than a lot of people do in their entire being." She looks from her hand to my face practically glowing with the energy, before a shadow passes over her face.

"Thank you, Gaelea. Say, are you going to stay here for a long time?" Oh boy… How do you tell a kid who is currently looking up to you that you have to leave? Is there a right way to do that even?

"Actually, I have to find something. I don't know where to look yet but I won't be able to find it here." This receives a sad sort of look before she composes herself.

"Well… I remember my parents once said to me that a good place to start might be Val Royeaux. They told me that when I'm old enough that I should go there to make my life… Maybe that's where you should go to." Val Royeaux… Where is that? I try to conjure the image of the map in my mind but alas I just don't know it well enough.

We arrive at the tavern and I hold the door open for her as we enter.

"Ah, Sorcha… Welcome back. Gaelea, did you find work today?"

"Naturally, not that it was ever an issue of whether I could pay you or not Jonas." I chuckle as I sit down at the bar, with Sorcha taking the chair next to me. I wonder about her parents, I had never seen them around before but she has told me they're alive. So, where are they? Maybe it's just my preconceptions from home on bars and drinking but I wonder whether Sorcha's parents would be unhappy with her being in the bar…

"Anyway, Sorcha. You said your parents told you that Val Royeaux would be a good place to go?"

Before she could answer me, Jonas piped up, "Bah! Val Royeaux is only full of a bunch of those Orlesian gluttons and those who feed off the drama they produce with ever other word."

I can't help but let out a quick chuckle before I look at Sorcha again. "I think I want to talk to your parents about that then. Maybe they could point me in the right direction."

She freezes up slightly, "My parents have been out of town for a little while looking for work actually. But if you stick around maybe they'll be back soon!" Oh, that's why she has been fairly defensive about that topic, her parents aren't even here right now. But I can't just wait around here for them to come back, especially if Sorcha doesn't know when they might be back…

Jonas walks over with my now regular meal and a mug of the cider that he had first brought and has now become one of my favourites. He also brought something for Sorcha to eat. "Sorcha, I didn't know your parents had left for work. Although, I did notice they haven't been around for a couple of days." He walks to the other side of the bar to serve a couple of people who just entered and sat at the opposite end of the bar from us. Sorcha looks down at them and stiffens up a bit before going back to the meal he brought to her.

After Jonas helps the two men at the end of the bar and comes back down to us, "Although if you really are going to go to Val Royeaux, I would recommend taking one of the ships that head over that way. Of course, if you don't mind a bit of hiking you could always travel using the Imperial Highway." And as typical as it might sound he went to wash out the used mugs behind the bar. Highways, huh? Although I am certain it isn't a nicely paved lined road like back home.

"Jonas, do you know how much the ships charge for that trip?" He reacted like some of the words I used were odd, not an unusual reaction to me considering I am from a n entirely different world, but her just disregarded it as he usually does. Sorcha looks from her meal to the men at the end of the bar again and back.

"Well, it depends on who you ask down there, but it's not cheap."

"Do you know how long it would take on the Imperial Highway?" I look over at him and he makes a sort of thinking face where he scrunched up his face to the side.

"Well, I'd say close to a month… But if you take a boat you could probably make it a week or so…" One _month_? God… I miss home. I could make that trip in less than a day at home. Damn… A whole month. And even on a boat it'll take a week… You know, you'd think that transportation magic would at least be some kind of common here… But no.

"Hmm… I'll have to get going soon then. I'll probably head out tomorrow." I'll have to buy some kind of rations though and to make sure that all of my equipment is in good repair. "Nah… Probably the next day…"

"Awe…" Sorcha looks at me, "Can't you stay just a little longer?"

"Sorry, Sorcha… But I have to find something and I am pretty sure it isn't here. Like you said, maybe Val Royeaux is a good place to start. Don't worry I'll make sure to say goodbye first."

She looks down, "Alright…" She stands up from the bar, "But you can't leave without saying goodbye!" She runs out of the tavern her head down, leaving me with the feeling that I shouldn't leave her… But I can't stay either way. I need to get home and to do that I need to find a library and learn as much as I can about other known realms here so that maybe I can use that knowledge to get home.

Jonas comes over to me, my eyes locked on the door. "Kids will be like that… Don't worry she'll come around before you leave."

"I hope she can forgive me. She could grow up to be so much." I reach down to the pendant of stormheart for comfort before I look over at Jonas who is just making a slight smirk. I narrow my eyes at him, "What's the smirk for, Jonas?"

"Oh nothing…" He chuckles some before meeting my eyes, "I've never seen her as happy as she has been the past week with you. You've given her something that she can hold onto for a long time."

One of the guys at the table in the nearby corner yells over, "Jonas! Don't go gettin' soft on us!"

To which Jonas adamantly replies, "I'm not going soft, you drunken slob." To which he gets a hearty chortle as a reply.

I smile to myself. Maybe if I can't find a way home I could come back here and make a life for myself. I look around the tavern, my eyes landing on Jonas. Moments with Sorcha and Jonas replay through my mind. Yeah, maybe a life in Highever wouldn't so bad.

* * *

Everything is ready. I survey the items that I have spread on the small table in my rented room. Everything that I could need for my impending journey and inevitable sore feet. I have had all of my weapons repaired by the smith that Jonas recommended to me, who actually gave me a deal because I told him that I recommended to come here by Jonas. The smithy even took care of small repairs on my leather armor pieces and travel coat for no extra charges.

The images of me packing for my trip to Europe with my siblings flash before my eyes. I wonder exactly how long ago that was… With everything that happened I don't know how much time has passed since that night.

I check all my hiding places for my various pouches of money. I've tried to make sure that each bag holds about the same amount and in total I have hidden about twelve sacks of coins throughout my pack, coat and clothes that I am wearing. I pack everything else into my bag and a small part of me wishes that I still had my backpack from home. I had paid so much for it and it was really a wonderful bag. Unfortunately, between the slavers, the explosion and being taken in by the Dalish the unfortunate bag got lost. Along with everything from home.

I strap on the belt that holds the sheath for my sword from Himsulem and strap the other sheathe to my back to go between me and the pack. I tuck my pendant under my coat and bring Arry's locket over my head and slip that in with the pendant. With everything else on me I head out the door and down the stairs.

Jonas is already out and cleaning the tables to get ready for a new day of patrons.

"I think Sorcha is waiting by the entrance to the city for you. She didn't want to miss you." He stands up and walks over to me. He holds out his hand to shake it and he ends up pulling me into a light hug, "I am not very devout but Maker be with you on your journey. I hope you find what you're looking for." I reach my around what I can of him to return the sentiment.

"Thank you for everything Jonas. I'm sure I wouldn't have lasted very long if you hadn't been here." We release and I turn to head out the door. I wave one last time at him before crossing the threshold. A small part of me wonders what would happen if I were to stay here, but I can't stay here in Thedas. I don't belong here. I never will.

I make my way to the city entrance, keeping my eyes open so I don't miss Sorcha waiting there. Sure enough though, she runs at me and crashes into me wrapping her arms around me tightly. I would never have thought that I could get so close to a kid after just over a week. I wrap my arms around her hunching over her slightly because of our height difference.

She releases just a little, "Do you have to go? Why can't you stay?" Oh man, again with the tough questions. She is very persistent.

"Sorcha, you know I can't stay here. I need to find the information about the Fade and other realms, and you know I won't find it here." I look at her face to see that she is actually tearing up. I put my hand on her cheek as a tear falls down her face. "Hey… You never know. Maybe I'll make it back here before too long. And I will get to meet your parents." She smiles at me.

"Hey… Can I at least walk with you for a little while?" Oh? Well… I mean if she only walks with me for a little she could easily get back here.

"Yeah, why not? As long as you promise to go straight back home when I tell you to, okay?" She pretends to deliberate but I already know the answer.

"Alright! Can I also show you something that I found in the forest last week with my parents?"

"If it's not too far off the trail then why not?" That elicited a more excited reaction than I thought it would, as she grabs my hand and pulls me toward the forest.

She giggles and laughs as she bounds through the forest, until we pass a small creek, then she becomes rather suddenly demure.

"Hey, Sorcha, are you alright? Did you get a scrape from one of the trees or something?"

She shakes her head as we continue to trudge through the forest. We are deeper than I would have thought we would go but Sorcha keeps walking getting more quiet with each passing minute. Something doesn't feel right. _Trust your intuition_. The words Flemeth had said to me ring in my mind.

I start to watch the spaces between the trees more carefully and reach for the hilt of my sword. If anything attacks us I need to be ready to protect Sorcha.

We continue further, Sorcha leading the way the entire time. When she finally speaks, her voice is shaky, "It was around five day now… My ma, pa and I had come out here to pick some berries. We always keep some of them, but the rest we sell to buy whatever we might really need and if any money is left ma and pa put it away so that when I'm grown I can go off and live a full life." She puts a hand on a tree nearby. I can feel the hairs on my hairs prickling with anticipation, what is she getting at? I don't understand why she sounds so nervous about being out here if she has done it more than once.

"It had been a few days since you had gotten to Highever. We had already spent two whole days together and I wanted to bring you some berries, so I asked my parents if we could go pick some. We hadn't been out in a while and my parents were worried about the rumors of the slavers that have been working in the area." That is something to be rightly worried about. A sniffle from her direction and I can see her bring her arm up to wipe her eyes, I release my sword hilt to reach for her shoulder to comfort her. But as soon as I make contact she flinches away from the gesture. "But…" She turns to face me, "I begged and pleaded to go… So, they said we could go out for a little while…"

A snapping of a twig behind me makes me focus on the sounds around me, I could hear the leaves shifting and… The swishing of fabrics all around us. People have surrounded us. The have surrounded us and are closing in.

"Sorcha, we need to go… Now." I reach for her arm to pull her closer, but she just sobs with tears now flowing freely down her face.

The sound of clinking chains causes me to freeze up. Slavers.

"Sorcha, remember our deal? You need to run to the city! Right now!"

But instead of getting ready to run she grabs my arm and holds on tightly, "I'm so sorry, Gaelea."


	11. Caged in a Nightmare

**Hello everyone! Thank you for coming to the next chapter of Sophi's story! I hope you enjoy it! As always, I love to hear the thoughts that you're having about my story; be it criticism, praise, questions, suggestions or even to just say "Hi."**

 **Thank you reading this story. And if you like this one, check out Arryn Mauntelle's story by LadyAudentium.**

* * *

Chapter 11

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She keeps repeating it. My heart is pounding in my chest. What? My eyes dart around us, they have shown themselves. Coming out from in-between the trees, each of them with their weapons drawn; some of them wielding chains and ropes. I don't even have to look behind me to know that they are approaching me there as well.

I try to reach for my sword but Sorcha's grip on my arm only tightens further. Reacting to the people closing in on us I push Sorcha against a large tree nearby and turn outwards. Even if she is involved in this I can't let her get hurt by these slavers. No, matter the situation.

I breath in steadily, I need to find a way out of this. I look between the men closing in on us slowly from all angles. Except one. As much as I know that it could be a trap I cant pass up an opportunity to get Sorcha out of this situation.

I crouch down low and whisper to Sorcha, "Get on my back, hold onto my bag."

"But Gaelea… They're only here because—"

"That doesn't matter." I cut her off before she can finish I don't care what she's done or why, because she is just a kid. "Get on, hurry." She reaches over my shoulders and latches her hands together around my neck, part of me worries about what she could do if she wanted to, but I trust her not to. "Hold on." I get into a ready position holding onto her legs under my arms.

Ready… Go.

I kick off of the tree behind us to get a good boost. I just need to get her a head start. Get her far enough away that I can freely use my magic. Yep, that's the plan and unless they a mage who is also more powerful than the average mage my plan should be able to hold. Especially if I go at them with my sword at the same time.

Just months ago this would have been impossible for me but now, while difficult, I can still pull it off.

"When I tell you to you need to push off my back and run back to the city. I'm going to try to lure them the other way." I scan the dense forest coming towards us on either side. Ah, perfect! I spot the large bush coming up on the right and arrange her feet on my back. "Aim for that bush on the right, it should be able to hide you well enough as well."

"Why are you helping now? It's all my fau—"

"Shh… You can make it up to me by getting away." Here goes everything… "Ready?" I angle my feet and push off the ground to give her enough launch as she pushes off my back.

I don't stop long enough to tell whether she landed well enough, the slavers are too close to chance it. But now that she's not on my back running is easier. And it frees me up to use magic.

Drawing the cold of ice magic to my fingers before I launch what I have affectionately named after the spell in Skyrim; ice spike. I see it drive into the shoulder of one of the men chasing me. I feel the pendant slip under my shirt noticing that it too is cold.

I whip around to jet forward when I see a rope fall in front of my eyes. For a second I think it had missed me but then I get jerked to the side by my neck and my vision goes black for a second as I fall to the ground.

I grasp at my neck, gasping for air, trying to loosen the rope there. I feel the chain of the seal pendant, if I can get that off maybe…

Then before I could try any further someone use the rope to get me on my knees. Where they grapple my hands behind my back and tie them there. I try to think straight but the spots cloud my vision and everything hurts. They even take my swords out of their sheathes as they haul me up to my feet and begin to march me through the forest.

My steps are clumsy and I can hardly keep my footing now; the rope still around my neck.

I can still feel the pendant hanging under my shirt. Cold as ever as I test to see whether I am aware enough to use my magic. The subsequent chill in my hands is enough of an answer. Now if I can just get the… Shit.

We come into something of a clearing where there are at least another seven people readying weapons as we enter the area. A couple of them rush over to the group bringing me in and I see them haul the guy I got with my ice spike away to a tent. A couple of guys clad in full armor converse in a harsh sounding language that I could swear I'd heard somewhere before.

Another thing that stands out in the clearing are the wheeled cages. There are two of them backed up against a cliff at the far side of the camp.

One of them is entirely empty and the other has at least half a dozen people.

I look around me, seeing the five men who brought me in as well as two more coming in just to the left… With Sorcha in tow. Shit. I let my head hang for a moment. I failed her.

A guy on my left shouts in that harsh language into the camp. I look up to see who would respond and notice that a couple of the people in the cage are now calling to Sorcha. Her parents. So, that must be why she brought me here, she must have been being blackmailed into it. The next question would be, why? Why would they get her to bring me out here?

My mind is interrupted by someone emerging from one of the tents. It's a man; fairly tall, I would guess around the six-foot mark. He has jet black hair that is slicked back with grease and as he approaches I can see that his eyes are a very dark brown, nearly black. His skin is a deep olive colour that many, but not all of the other people at the camp share. None of this matters as much as the fact that an insidious grin is spreading across his face as he strolls over to me.

"It seems that my wager has paid off." His voice is deep and gravely as he grabs my chin and angles my face up at him. He releases my chin and saunters over to Sorcha and grabs her face. She cries out in fear.

"Hey! She has finished what she had to do! Now let her and her parents leave!" I scream at him. He looks over at me and his grin widens. "Your deal with her was that she would get her parents back if she brought me here, right? So now let them go!"

This man practically radiates danger, I can feel it as he regards me with a sickening interest.

He leans in close to my face, "Not without being sure that you are the prize we seek." The prize they seek? Is it possible they know about… No, they can't possibly! I didn't look like an elf then. He snaps his fingers at a few of the other men around. A couple of them head over to the cage, I try to see whether they release Sorcha's parents but one of the ones behind me kicks the back of my knees and I fall to the ground. The man firmly plants his foot between my legs before going down on one knee. He removes the glove from his left hand and places his hand on the right hand of my face. He slides his hand into my hair and closes his fist. I gasped in pain as he wrenches my head to the side using my hair.

I feel a line of cold metal rest against the exposed skin on my neck and my stomach drops with terror. He leans in closer to my ear, "Just so you don't get any ideas." A dagger, he has a dagger's blade resting against my neck. I open my eyes in defiance and look up to meet his eyes. In them, I can see nothing except a deep and insatiable hunger lingering just beneath the surface.

I feel the binds on my hands loosen and my arms go slack at my sides, and they work at getting my pack off my back. Next, they remove my coat and vest so that all I am wearing in a cotton shirt. This entire time the man before me holds the dagger to my neck to the point where I can feel my heartbeat against the metal.

They bring my hands in front of me and tie them up. The man brings the blade away from my neck and he stands up. He walks around behind me and I feel the blade now between my shoulders. Next all I hear is the tearing of fabric as the cold air reaches my back and I hear a laugh of satisfaction from the black-haired man.

I feel the cold metal of his dagger trace a line of scarring on my back, "Your scars betray you." So he did know who I was this whole time. He knows that I am the one who obliterated the other group of slavers when my power exploded out of me for the first time.

"If I am this prize you seek, then let th—" My sentence is cut short by him pulling me to my feet by using the rope that is still around my neck.

"Yes, yes… Release the girl and her parents. I keep my word." I see Sorcha's parents run over to her and her father picks her up. He whispers to me, "I don't need so many extra people anyway, now that I have you." I see Sorcha look over her father's shoulder at me and then the three of them turn to face me. Her father puts her down and goes to take a step forward but I maneuver my hand so that I can't tell him to stop.

I look Sorcha's father in the eye, "Take her back to Highever. Don't let her be afraid to go into the forest again. This is my fault and I'm sorry." The man pulls on the rope at my neck and I choke out of surprise, white spots flashing in my vision.

"Leave or I may find a use for you after all." The merciless man puts his dagger at my back and urges me forward. I look at the family, worry colouring their expressions and I mouth 'go' at them. I am able to watch long enough to see them bring to walk forward but a push to my back makes me take a step forward. He presses the dagger into my back, the scars there sensitive to the touch of the blade.

I only need one guess as to where I am going, my eyes move over to where the empty cage is. Another cage. More chains, more bars. No freedom.

My steps are shaky now that Sorcha and her parents have left but as I try to walk confidently the man pushes the dagger a little harder. "Hurry now, they will surely come back here with city guard or some such nonsense and I want to be long gone before then."

The other people in the camp had already begun to take down the tents and pack everything up. As we near the cage I can see that there are two horses that are being readied to pull it. The other cage is getting the same, despite that apparently I will be alone in this cage and the other has five people still inside it. I also see how they got the cart to this remote location, a pair of ragged tracks cut along side the cliff; a road of sorts.

I reach the cage door and take a step to get up and into the cage when I force from behind sends me straight to the cage floor; not with a soft landing either as my hands being tied are useless to cushion the fall. The man then uses the rope to drag me to my feet again and pushes me to the back of the cage where two stationary manacles wait against the back wall.

A rough hand spins me around to face the man again. "You know, usually people introduce themselves before anything else." I glare right at him, but it does nothing.

"If it matters that much I will happily oblige." He pushes me to the ground at the back of the cage, the manacles are slightly above my head. "You may call me Dorian and luckily for you Magister Danarius has not sanctioned anything but keeping you locked up in here." The intonation that he uses with that statement make it seem all the more ominous. He leans into me again taking a fist full of hair and exposing my neck. I feel the blade meet my neck again and the binds loosen once more. I feel the hands of what must be his underlings take my own hands up and latch them into the cold manacles. I end up in an uncomfortable sitting position with my legs going out from my body in either direction but bent at the knees.

He releases my hair and takes the knife away. He is crouched in front of me, I test my mobility against the manacles and Dorian just chuckles. "No, you won't be getting away this time." He takes my chin between his thumb and index finger and angles face upward at him, "You see, we found what was left of Jashr's group on the coast… Of course, when he whipped you he used his custom barbed end. Essentially, he left his signature all over your back." He jerks my head to the right to face the other cage full of rattled and hunger looking people. "They are my leverage. You see… If you were to do whatever it was you did to Jashr and his group, they would suffer the same fate." He snaps my head back to face him which causes the sealing pendant to fall out of my shirt. He looks down to the sealing pendant and Arry's locket. Oh no… Please no… He must have seen the panic in my eyes because he picks the pendant up in his hand flips it over and back before pulling off, snapping the chain. "So, if you don't want those innocent people to die, you will control yourself." With that he stands, eyes the pendant and takes in my reaction to him taking it away. "That being said, Magister Danarius did send in a letter just today that I am to get you to submit. He only forbade the use of my more personal methods. Of course that does mean I will have to be more creative with my methods until he arrives."He smiles unsettlingly and walks out of the cage before closing and locking it.

I hadn't expected my reaction to the pendant's absence to be so soon, but before the cages began their movement it was all I could do to keep myself from losing control of the seal; and subsequently, the magic behind it. I can't even keep my head upright because all of my energy and concentration are devoted to keeping my magic in check. The magic that had become a mouldable clay in my hands has once again turned into a smoke that is trying to escape my grasp.

There are some moments when I can feel the pendant I can reach out to it and gain some more control over my seal but it is fleeting and never lasts.

I vaguely remember a couple of armed men come into the cage at one point to remove everything except my ruined shirt and my pants. The took everything away boots included leaving shivering in the cage.

Dorian, I think, is enjoying seeing me struggle with my magic. There have been a couple of times when he gets near to my cage and I can tell he keeps my pendant on him as at those moments I experience moments of relief where I can more easily control my magic.

I catch glimpses of the trees, some mountains and water once in a while. At some point, I began to notice it getting dark, it was evening. Fen'Harel would be waiting in the Fade for me but he would be kept waiting today. I can't muster the concentration to enter the Fade on top of everything else.

My head lolls to the sides moved by the cages rocking on the road, my energy is failing me and I can hardly keep my eyes open. When I next open them I am no longer in the cage but rather in the forest near where mine and Flemeth's camp was.

"I did not think you still had trouble entering the Fade." Fen'Harel, he pulled me into the Fade. Although, being here doesn't appear to have any effect on my state of exhaustion. I try to stand up but I can hardly move at all, he comes over to me, "What is wrong?"

"I…" God… Even speaking is difficult. "Slavers… They took… The pendant…" I don't even know if he is going to understand… I never actually told him about the pendant. "It… seals… my magic…"

A hand on my face, gentle this time, "Stay where you are, I will come."

My head smacks into the metal bars of the cage. I thought it was a bump in the road until I wake to see Dorian's lifeless, hungry black eyes boring into my own. He is kneeling in front of me again, inside the cage, "Now, now… We can't have you passing out and losing control." He shifts to the side to reveal the cage of people behind him, "You wouldn't want to be responsible for their deaths now, would you?"

I feel some sense of lucidity returning with how close he is. I can see him eyeing me, up and down, eyes lingering at my breasts and lower. He pushes his knee between my now spread legs, "In four days we will be meeting up with Magister Danarius to decide what will happen to you. Luckily for you that decision does not lie with me." I struggle against the manacles and glare as best I can. "I will admit I have a certain weakness for those with a wild spirit." He caresses the cheek where the feeling Fen'Harel's hand lingers and he leans in to whisper in my ear, "I especially enjoy the seeing the moment that the wild spirit inside breaks." He looks deeply into my eyes as I try not to let the terror his words instill in me show.

"I had hoped that you would last longer but I prepared a special herbal mixture in the event you began to lose the fight." I watch him reach down next to my leg and pull up a little glass bottle with a cork stopper. "This should keep you from being too much of a burden on my men." He unstoppers the little bottle and reaches for my face. I turn my head abruptly to dodge his hand, in response he reaches further and pushes my head against the cage. I clench my jaw shut as tightly as I can but he forces his fingers into my mouth and squeezes at the back of my mouth to wrench my jaw open. I try to resist as he tilts my head back but he is stronger than me in the first place and so the resistance is easily quashed in my exhausted state. He manages to get my mouth open just wide enough fit the top of the bottle between my teeth as he pours the bitter liquid into my mouth. Quicker than I can react he cover my mouth so that I cannot spit out the foul-tasting concoction. As bad as it tastes I do my best to just keep it in my mouth to outwait him and spit it out once he releases me, but he begins to stroke downwards on my throat to coax the mixture down. Unfortunately, this method does the trick and I feel the liquid slide down my throat, burning the whole way down. He releases my mouth and I cough from having breathed some of the foul stuff in.

My vision gets hazy around the edges, black spots flutter in and out. I try to hold onto wakefulness but with each second it becomes more of a losing fight. Pressure at my chin as my face is lifted to look at him again. The last thing I see is a malevolent sneer extend over his face and then a sticky, grasping and foul blackness pulls me under.

* * *

Waking up was to say the least an unpleasant affair. Unconsciousness grasps at me unrelentingly not willing to release me just yet. At some point though, it did lose its hold and I manage to crack my eyes open.

The high sun assaulted my tired eyes when a shadow came and blocked the light. I wrench my eyes open further to see the stormheart pendant hanging in front of me. I reach for it only to find my hands won't move. Remembering my situation as the sticky filling from the mixture subsides. I try futilely to move my hands again but after the rattling from the manacles, I hear a low chuckle from in front of me.

I focus on the space in front of me, my eyes having a hard time of it but then I make out what is standing there. Dorian. Holding the pendant in front of my eyes, taunting me with the one thing that I need to keep from killing the innocent people. As he pulls it away, a bubbling and hot fury comes to the surface, with it the power inside rising like a volcano about to erupt. My vision begins to go white before I clamp down on the escaping power. My vision returns to normal and an impact flares up pain across my cheek.

"Keep _that_ contained, you abomination!" I can taste blood in my mouth from where Dorian has backhanded me. A trickle of it escapes the corner of my mouth. White spots dance across my vision. I turn to face him and spit my blood onto the ground at his feet. To this he leans over me and grabs hold of the cage behind me looking down at me with dark vengeance in his eyes. He launches his foot into my ribs forcing my breath out and leaving my hacking. Pain spreads across my entire midriff.

"This will teach not to be defiant. Try that again and you will suffer worse." He pulls his foot back and sends in flying into my ribs again. He leaves me coughing and heaving from the blows to my chest. Crippling pain spread from the two locations where his foot made contact.

After he leaves another man comes into the cage, he doesn't look remarkable in any way at all. He approaches me wordlessly and lifts my shirt a little way and examines my ribcage. He pokes and prods at it, each time pain blooming all over again. He finishes and leaves without saying anything. He locks the door behind him and walks right over to Dorian. Hmph. Probably wants to make sure he didn't permanently damage his 'prize.' I am not sure how I am a 'prize' but I certainly don't feel prized. In fact, I don't think I have ever been so abused in my life before coming to this awful world.

Before too much longer the cages are mobile again. Every bump and lurch causes my chest to bloom with excruciating pain. As the day goes on I try to enter the Fade again to see if Fen'Harel is there, but every time the cage hits even the smallest rock I am immobilized by pain.

Needless to say, that with the pain I now have in my chest concentrating on keeping my magic in check is that much more difficult. When we finally come to a stop for the night, I find myself relaxing a bit basking in the feeling of being stationary.

After a while the people in the other caged are given something that must be some kind of rations, as they start eating. This is the point where I realize that I don't know how long it's been since I ate last and my stomach grumbles in response. When it becomes evident that I won't be getting anything to eat, I start to attempt entering the Fade past all the pain and holding down my magic but I just can't do it.

The way they set up the camp is different from how it was when they first put me in the cage. Then the cages had been pretty well inside the camp circle, but now they have very visibly set the cages outside of the camp. The camp is well within sight, so anything that happens over here is perfectly visible from where they are. Meaning that anything I attempt will be seen, not to mention that the other cage is right next to mine. That organization is Dorian reminding me that if I lose control over my power they will be the first to suffer.

The cages are set up so that I am looking straight into the camp, the door easily accessible to the camp, and open. Another message from Dorian. This one tells me that he knows I won't sacrifice the five people in the cage next to me even if it means that I would escape.

Then, speak of the devil, Dorian strolls over to the other cage to my right and everyone moves to the back of the cage. He unlocks it and opens the door. He steps up and into the cage. I can't turn my head enough to watch what he does but when I see him leaving he has a struggling girl by the arm. He deftly hops onto the ground and pulls her down behind him. He turns his gaze to me and his face morphs into a wicked sneer as his eyes meet mine. I struggle against the manacles, she desperately tries to free herself from his grasp but he is too strong for her. He drags the girl into the camp, I can't watch where he takes her as everything is still coming in and out of focus even her screams fade away they go so far.

What he had said about liking to see the spirit in a person break shudders through my mind. Rage licks at my mind, searing and bright. The smoke of my power begins to ignite once more before I reach to steady the seal. I almost lost my seal that time. The memories of the first camp I annihilated flash across my vision, the burnt corpses of the people I had killed with my magic and the sickening smell that I had awoken to.

"Hey…" A whispering voice from my right, I try to angle my head well enough without straining my ribs too much. One of the people in the other cage is kneeling next to the bars of the cage facing me. "Are you awake?"

"Yes…" I manage to squeeze out, I hadn't spoken since before Dorian had kicked my chest; it hurt. "What… will… he… do?" I look the man in the other cage in the eye.

"Whipping if she's lucky." What? What could possibly be worse than whipping? Remembering the pain of the man I know now to have been named, Jashr, as he laid waste to my back. "You're the only woman he hasn't done that to yet. Do you know why?"

"No…" A moment passes where my power attempts to break the seal again. I need my pendant back, I can feel the seal slowly deteriorating the longer I am without it.

One of the women in the cage still hushes him and berates him with a harshly whispered warning, "If they catch you talking to her, you will definitely be whipped." She walks to the edge of the cage. "We could ask all the questions we want about why she is being treated so differently than the rest of us, but it has to do with how her eyes looked before he kicked the other day." She isn't wrong… I do my best to make a visible nod at them.

Another of the people goes to the edge of the cage, "Are you alright?" This person from what I can tell is a strong looking man, how did they capture him?

Before I can answer the woman lightly smacks his shoulder, "Are you daft? Look at her, she can hardly keep her eyes open and she hasn't been fed this entire time. Is she okay? Does she look it to you?"

I see them suddenly disperse as one of Dorian's goons approaches the cage. He hits the cage bars with the side of his sword, "You lot, shut up! Unless of course you want to receive a sound lashing." To that all four of them bow their heads.

That guard had effectively ended their attempts to speak with me and so I lost track of the passage of time again.

* * *

Exhaustion is a weird feeling. Although, I guess nothing about my situation is normal. I mean it isn't exactly an everyday situation where you get lured into the forest by a child who is being blackmailed, then forced into a cage and manacled with your arms up in the I surrender pose. Not to mention that the magical pendant that helps me control my magic has been robbed of me causing very little spare concentration for anything other than constantly trying not to kill everyone within a certain distance. Not that everything within that distance deserves to live.

The girl that Dorian made away with the other night is being held and comforted by the other two women in the other cage. I don't even want to think about what he did to her. I spot him on his horse trotting along side their cage, close enough that he can see me looking right at him but far enough away that I can't get the benefits of the pendant. I make eye contact with the detestable man and do my best to glare at him, to which he only sneers at me again.

We hit a rough part of the road and the jostling causes pain right across my entire chest, I don't know what broken ribs feel like, but I wouldn't be surprised if mine were. That… And he is denying me healing magic, if he wanted the pain to be gone it would be. He wants me to have a constant reminder of what will happen if I lose control while he is near again or otherwise defy him. Not that I intend to oblige him in anyway.

I feel myself slipping and blackness starts to seep into my vision again. I try to keep myself awake but I fear that it is a losing battle. Then the caravan comes to a halt. I focus on where Dorian is… Was… He isn't there anymore. The cages have come to a stop in the same orientation as last night. I feel a jostle as, they must be taking the horses off of the cage now…

I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. As much as I don't want to admit it, Dorian terrifies me. The way he ruthlessly doles out punishment and how he has a cruel nature that he nurtures daily. As much as I want to be defiant and strong, I don't think I can continue against his fury if all I get is broken and weak.

I wait for him to arrive at my cage to torment me, but instead the doctor type person opens my cage and comes to me. I watch him come to the back of the cage and kneel down before me. He lifts my shirt enough to see how my ribs have progressed. Despite this man's impeccable poker face I am sure that they look just as bad or worse than they feel. I had been watching the doctor until the bittersweet feeling of my seal stabilizing washes over me. I look over the doctor to see Dorian looming at the entrance to the cage.

The man finishes his work and leaves past Dorian, who then strolls over to me.

He bends over and his black hair falls forward and brushes my forehead, "This is where we are to meet with Magister Danarius to decide your fate." I glare straight into his eyes, knowing it won't have any effect but doing it anyway. "I see that fire is still plenty alive, that is unfortunate as I will have to report that to the Magister." Standing upright he pulls a small bottle out of his pocket, without the slightest twinge of remorse. "But we can't have you losing control, or trying anything else while we prepare this camp for his arrival." As nice as a nap would be, I really don't want that disgusting crap in my mouth again. Since I haven't eaten or drank anything since that foul shit the after taste of it still resides in my mouth. I bring my legs closer to my body.

I look him in the eye, my energy slowly increasing the longer he is close with the pendant. "I won't be drinking that shit willingly if that's what you want." I want to spit in his face but my mouth is too dry to muster enough. A shadow passes over his face leaving a cruel and cold expression. He takes a more dominant stance before me, reaches to my face with one hand. I do my best to avoid his hand but when your body movement is limited it makes avoid a fully mobile person very difficult.

"Your meager resistance is futile." He tilts my head to fully face him, "You will submit, if not now, then when Danarius sanctions me to do whatever I please to achieve your submission." With the same deft skill as before he unstoppers the bottle with his other hand while again forcing open my mouth. I feel the cold glass of the bottle meet my lips as he tips the contents into my mouth. I struggle against him and the manacles while he keeps my mouth covered. But surely as the sun will set, I feel the contents slide down my throat the burning sensation bringing the sticky and oppressive blackness with it.

* * *

I wake up to see Dorian in my vision again. He has the pendant in his hand. I stretch my hand out to it as if I will suddenly have telekinesis and be able to bring through the air to my hand with only the power of my mind.

My consciousness returns gradually as Dorian get closer and I realize that my clothes are damp. Then to my shock he places the pendant, now on a leather cord, around my neck.

"Now behave. Magister Danarius will not tolerate any disobedience from you as I have." Ha! He has tolerated disobedience from me? When? That is laughable. I glower at him as he leans in closer to me.

His hand takes a handful of hair and he pulls my head to the side again. He brings the knife to my neck as another man unlocks the manacles that hold my hands up. I feel my arms slump to my sides blood rushing to my fingers. My arms are again bound by rope in front of me and Dorian hauls me to my feet.

When exiting the cage, I misstep once and with an added push from Dorian behind me I lose balance and fall the rest of the way to the ground making harsh impact with the hard dirt. This time instead of the rope I can still feel around my neck he uses my hair to pull me to my feet. I hear the laughs of the men around me, bringing me back to that first time, right before they whipped my back raw.

Once he gets me to my feet, he gives an unrelenting push on my still-exposed back. I stumble forward a bit but keep upright. I try turn my head in a glare behind me but another push has me stumbling forward again. My steps reluctant, I try to make them slow and deliberate to last least to rebel in any way that I could.

He walks me well into their camp from the cages he forces me to my knees and walks over to one of the tents to my right. As I wait for what I can only assume is this 'Magister Danarius' to come, I look around. I spot an opening between two tents about fifteen feet away. The gap between the tents also boasts something of a deer trail. I adjust how I am sitting so that my feet are firmly planted on the ground. Ready to launch at a moment's notice.

I hear steps and I look to see their origin. I see a man casually walking over to where I am. He has grey hair that is pulled back into a ponytail and looks greasy. He has a fairly long beard that is also grey and frames his wrinkled face. For a bit of a change his eyes are grey as well, although they radiate a sort of harsh emotionlessness that I can feel a chill from. His face is gaunt and shadowed menacingly. His robes seem almost ornate, he must be from some position of wealth due to the gold accents and bright colours that adorn his clothing. Dorian follows behind this man in a subordinate manner. He has something of a sway to his walk that oozes arrogance.

"She doesn't look like much." His voice is slippery sounding, like the way an oil slick sits on water. All in all, I know exactly the term that Arry would have used to describe this man and the air he carries with him. 'A sack full of angry cobras,' was all her favourite term for anyone that proved untrustworthy or held an air of deviousness. Usually I would not render such a harsh judgment but for this man I will make an exception. Arry's phrase suits this man to a T.

"Just imagine what I was before your little goon got to me." I hiss at the two of them.

"And you're certain that this is one that Jashr's group had captured? The one who the Elder One suspects triggered the resonance with his artifact?" Confusion bubbles up inside my mind, 'Elder One'? What was that about causing resonance? And something called simply an artifact?

"Yes, Magister Danarius. Her back has the pattern of Jashr's custom whip barb." What?! Just how savage are these people? The man who had whipped me had been using a 'custom' barb?

Dorian swipes my hair out of the way and opens the tear in my shirt to show Danarius my back. Danarius walks all the way around me before grabbing my jaw bone and directing my face to look at him.

He lets go of my face and reaches for the pendant that Dorian had put over top of everything else. He looks over to Dorian who is still behind me and says in his sleazy voice, "And you say that this pendant has something to do with her magic?"

"Yes, Magister. Although I am not sure as I am not a mage myself. I did keep it from while we traveled however." Dorian answers professionally and concisely to the 'Magister's' question.

Danarius lifts it over my head to examine it more closely. "Yes, I can certainly tell that it holds a deep base of power." He states in a very matter-of-fact way. "Although, I doubt that this would be useful to anyone but her. It is deeply attuned to her magic. Almost as if the stone itself has somehow been infused with her raw essence. I have never seen such a level of enchantment in an object." He turns it over again before beginning to walk away with it in hand, "I shall examine this tonight before we leave in the morning. Dorian come into my tent for a moment I need to discuss how we will proceed with you."

I see them both walk away and I see Dorian motion at someone to go to me. Now's my only chance.

Looking only at the gap between the two tents I launch myself into a run. Heart pounding as I can feel the hands of freedom reaching out to me. Almost there!

A searing and sharp pain shoots through my entire body and when it stops I slump to the ground and fall forward with my bound hands beneath my chest. My muscles spasm repeatedly as I hear shouts and stomping surround me. I feel a foot under my chest lift me up and turn me over harshly. For a moment, I see Dorian's smug sneer before he steps away from me.

The energy crackles through me again, causing my muscles to involuntarily seize. My mouth opens but nothing comes out and my vision blurs. Then its over again.

Panting in relief I open my eyes to see Dorian reach for the rope around my neck to bring me upright.

"Dorian, I see you weren't wrong when you said she is a willful girl. We will have to see to that before bringing her to the Elder One, He will not tolerate such escape attempts." Danarius' face comes into my view. He continues, "Have her put back in that cage, right now." Then the magister walks away.

Dorian pushes me back into the camp, I had gotten just past the tents before Danarius had electrocuted me. Dorian continues to unceremoniously usher me back to the cage making sure that I know that he has a hand on the rope at my neck.

Unfortunately, the effects of the pendant now being in the tent with Danarius are starting to show. Haziness around the periphery of my vision and the bubbling sensation of my power rising to the surface.

Before too long, I have been brought back to ill-fated manacles. Dorian tries to shove me to turn around and when I do not comply he uses his leg to turn me around and topple me at the same time causing my head to smack against the metal bars. Before I can even react to sit properly Dorian's dagger is at my throat again as my bonds are loosened. I struggle some to test his resolve and all I get is the dagger pressed against my throat hard enough that I feel a trickle of blood slide down my neck to my collarbone. As my hands are locked back into the shackles, he stands back up and leaves without a word.

Again, as if assuring me that he is not going soft, he has left the door open. Prick.

I try to keep myself together but the electricity had muddled my thoughts, coupled with the effects of having to focus on keeping the seal on my magic stable makes that very difficult. After testing the manacles' tightness, I give up and deign to focusing on keeping the seal stable.

* * *

Not caring to keep track of the time, I wait until I see Dorian making his way back to the cage. This time however he has another man with him who isn't Danarius. This man however is in full armor, helmet included.

Dorian climbs into the cage but armor guy stays at the door. Dorian walks right up to me kneels directly in front of me. "Danarius has decided to take me to his next destination." He grabs my chin with his right hand and directs it up at his face, which is now mere inches away from mine, I glare in response. His left hand slams onto the cage to my right, causing me to wince and break eye contact. "All you need to know is that if you have not learnt how to be a good and submissive slave by the time we meet again…" He brings his face even closer to mine, bringing his voice to a menacing whisper, "Danarius has sanctioned my use of more personal means to make you break." He brings his knee right up against me between my legs and I feel a wave of fear washes over me. My heart pounds, what he did to that girl a few nights ago… Oh my God… I'm sure he can see the fear in my eyes as he moves the hand he was using to hold my face down my neck, across my collarbone to have it settle on my breasts over my undergarments. His face moves in closer to mine keep his eyes locked on my own.

I can't help the terror that settles in the pit of my stomach. A ragged breath escapes, my mind racing at how to get out of this situation. Then with a dark chuckle he stands back up and leaves the cage with the door open. The entire time and for a good length of time afterwards I couldn't even move for the thought of what he would do when he and Danarius return.


	12. Waking Up Again

**Hello everyone! Thank you for reading the next chapter! Again, if you have any feedback at all let me know!**

 **I hope you all enjoy the new chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 12

The next morning, I hear a couple of the guards that speak English chatting casually. I can tell they are getting near the cage so I pretend to be asleep.

"I heard that the Magister and Dorian are going to Southern Orlais to retrieve some more slaves that the operation down there have picked up."

"Yeah, but this freak is staying with our group while we go all the way to Wycome."

The two continue to chat be they walk out of earshot and I can no longer make out the words. Southern Orlais… I wonder how far away that is… Although apparently, I am bound for some place called Wycome… Which they made to sound very far away. I can't let that happen. I have to get away from these people. Before… The image of Dorian before me flash across my mind and an involuntary shudder passes over me.

I see Dorian strutting towards this area with a definite purpose in mind. He climbs up into the cage and saunters over to me leisurely, I can feel the seal stabilize as he nears, "Last night, I created a rather special concoction." I look up at him expecting to pull out a little bottle again, but instead he gingerly pulls his embellished dagger out of its sheathe and begins to rotate it in his hand as he nears me. My stomach sinks, what is he doing? He crouches down in front of me, perfectly balanced on the balls of his feet. "You see, I don't want you to forget about our little discussion last night." Terror builds up inside me at the memory of his threats and what he wants to do, a sinister chuckle rises out of him, "I see you remember now, but I want to make sure that the memory lasts." He lightly traces the blade across my cheek, I feel the cold of the line fill me with dread. "That's when I came up with this," he holds the dagger up between us, "I created a poison for this dagger." I feel my heart pound heavier in my chest. "Oh, don't worry, it won't kill you. It will be excruciating pain and I'm sure it will scar heavily, but you won't die." He takes my chin between his fingers, "No, that wouldn't do. I just want you anticipate when I see you again as much I will." He flashes his teeth in a sinister leer.

Dorian then pulls some cloth out of a pouch at his side and roughly shoves it into my mouth, "We can't have you attracting any trouble, now can we?" I try to get the vulgar tasting fabric out of my mouth but to no avail. He puts his weight onto my legs as he lifts my shirt just to my breasts. I feel him trace the dagger lightly over my skin, my eyes begin to burn with tears. No… I can't let him win. My breathing gets heavy and my heart pounds in my chest. Then it is as if he draws fire onto my skin. My vision goes white and my muffled scream fill my ears. Searing agony rips through me and then it lessens a little but leaves my skin smoldering. I can feel the cool trails on my cheeks left by my tears. My power roils beneath my skin aching to be freed.

The torture resumes and is drawn across me just below the still burning line from before but the new pain makes the lingering burn easy to bear. The pain is so intense that I can't tell where he is cutting. I can feel the pressure of his weight keeping me down and preventing me from writhing in agony. I feel my head loll to the side as he pulls the dagger away from my skin. Spots dance across my blurred, unfocused vision. Nothing is left. I can't hear my breathing anymore, I can feel the poison coursing out of the area and searing into my body.

I feel a weight appear around my neck, my pendant? My power churns inside but can't get past the now solid, impenetrable barrier of Flemeth's seal. Thinking it is all over I look up at Dorian tears flowing from my eyes, when I feel a third scorching line being drawn down across the other two lines. As he digs the blade across my skin however, blackness reaches around my vision bringing with it silence and peace.

* * *

The next couple of days pass in a blur, moments of clarity sewn together by blackness and pain. Besides the lingering pain of the poison in my skin everything is peaceful. Dorian hasn't come back since he drew his marks across my midriff, leaving me to at least recover in peace. There were a couple of times when the doctor type person came to the cage, prodding my ribs and dressing the wounds that Dorian left behind.

Surely as he had predicted the pain that his dagger has created doesn't seem to be fading away, although today it seems that my mind is almost managing to put it on the sidelines. Unfortunately, whenever the cart hits a particularly uneven bit of road, the movement shifts the bandages.

Although, the peace that I have experienced during Dorian's apparent absence has been nearly blissful. I'm sure that if he were here, he wouldn't have given me a moment of peace.

Over the past couple of days, I have tried to focus long enough to see if he is even in the camp. I haven't seen him since the dagger thing but that doesn't mean he isn't here. I will admit that him leaving this group would be a near best-case scenario at this point. An absolute dream of a situation would be one that ends with me being out of these manacles for starters and then ending with me totally one hundred percent free of this Tevinter slaver bullshit.

However, that scenario is about as likely as that green explosion happening right now and landing me in what's left of my living. Alone, but alive. I breath out slowly, attempting to move my chest as little as possible, I'm sure that if I were at home I would minimally get a few dozen stitches and probably spend weeks in a hospital. And I would not complain for a second. Anything would be better than this. Anything.

I strange movement rouses my curiosity and open my eyes to see what's happening. I see the sky darkening and I notice that the cages have been maneuvered into the camping positions with me facing directly into the area where they are setting up camp. At least I don't have to do that, feeling a sliver happier about my situation.

As hard as I try, however, for an amount of time that I don't know staying awake is difficult and I fall in and out of unconsciousness often. This effect is probably the fault of whatever poison it was that Dorian had coated his dagger with. Although it does make for fast time passing as we travel to where ever on this godforsaken world we are going.

I feel myself coming out of a sleepy spell, feeling a bit better than I had since the whole cuts and pain and burning business, only to realize that there are other people in the cage with me. I feel my heart rate rise in alarm. I feel them restrain my legs as they move in closer. I spot the glint of a small bottle and just as one of the others reaches for my face. I groggily dodge the hands reaching for me and they follow my face every time I turn my head. I try to free my legs from whatever is restraining them only to find out that there are hands holding down my legs. Also, a sensation that can only be call tearing blooms across my right side and I feel wetness begin to soak my skin and shirt where the cuts from Dorian's dagger reopen. The pain distracts me from my attempts to escape my face being handled and the man gets both hands on either side of my face and pushes my head against the cage wall.

From what I can tell there are three men trying to subdue me. The literally restrained and poisoned girl, who hasn't stood up for over a week. Three men. I hear the popping sound of a cork leaving the small bottle and I can give one guess as to the contents of said small bottle. With two hands holding my face still as I struggle to free it, another hand finds and pries open my mouth. The feeling of the small bottle being wedged between my teeth and then it being tipped as the slick fluid trails down my throat leaving the burning behind.

Everything fades away as the sticky drug induced coma that pulls me under as I feel the three men release their holds on me and then nothing.

* * *

The sounds of a scream pull me from the grasping tar of the drug induced sleep. My head won't respond to my demands to rise and so I must use my limited field of vision to discern what is happening.

I can hear the clanking of metal against metal, grunts of fighting and another sound that I can't place. I try to look into the camp to see what's happening. The dim lighting of the predawn makes it difficult to make anything out at all, but a distinct flash of blue light keeps coming in and out of my vision. I try to focus on it but the drug holding onto my mind makes it difficult to make out exactly what it is. Not to mention the speed that it is moving at, my slow eyes can't keep up.

I see one of the slavers frantically come hide between the two cages, I manage the slight movement to watch him cower between the back wheels of the cages. I hear strong footfalls approaching the cages, part of me is afraid but there is a part of me that is too tired and muddled to care. I'm not sure if it is a trick of the light or if the sun is rising but as the footfalls get louder it gets brighter, with a cool blue light. I see the slaver get ready to bolt and start to run when a blue blur springs in front of him.

With all my concentration I manage to focus on the blue light to see that it is a man. I can see the slaver is stopped in front of them with me viewing this from a weird angle. The slaver goes ridged and I hear a gasping sound as he is lifted into the air by the blue guy. I don't understand what exactly is happening until they turn slightly and I can see that the blue guy's hand is _inside_ the slaver's chest. I blink a couple of times, sure that what I am seeing is a trick of the light mixing badly with the remnants of the drug in my system.

I see the blue guy's arm move up abruptly and the slaver goes limp. The blue guy drops the now evidently dead slaver on the ground and ceases to glow blue. At that, I also find myself being pulled under by the drug once again. As much as I try, the darkness wins over as I fall asleep again.

* * *

As I come back to the waking world, I find I have a splitting headache. I put my hand to my forehead and then rub my temples. Wait… My eyes fly open and I shoot up out of the cot that I've been lain down in. Almost immediately I get the worst headrush I've ever had, coupled with the sharp pain that blooms across my ribs. I scrunch my eyes shut and I would have fallen backwards if it weren't for the person who caught me and laid me back down gently.

"Hey… Relax…" I open my eyes to see the woman who had been comforting the other girl.

I groan, "What happened?" I hold my hand up to see bandages covering my wrist but I can see that small amount of blood soaking through the bandage. I haven't been able to see my arms at all so their condition was a mystery to me until now.

"Well first of all, you need to take it easy." She sounds mildly irritated but continues, "An elf warrior with strange tattoos showed up around dawn today." She gets down and examines some bandages that are around my ribs. "He slaughtered all of the slavers and freed us from the cages." An elf warrior… The image of the man that was glowing blue. I never did get a good look at him. I could hear some talking outside of the tent we seem to be in. The woman must have seen my attention shift to the tent flaps, "That'll be Morvan and Sylfhan. The two men who were in the cage with me, they went out hunting earlier. They must have just gotten back."

I look at her, now being able to discern the details with relatively full movement as well as basically full cognitive ability having returned. She is an elf, the pointed ears peeking out from behind her black hair. Her skin is a light brown and her eyes are a steel grey. "What about you? What's your name?" I ask as I look at her. She looks around thirty years old perhaps a little younger.

She looks from the bandages to me. "I guess we never did get the chance for introductions. I am Ivuna." She goes back to tending the bandages, "The other two women are Joanna and Khalifa." She stands up again, "You should be okay to sit up now. Slowly." She ends the last with a touch of forcefulness to emphasize the 'slowly.'

I being myself up to a sitting position slowly and deliberately, attempting to be as easy on my ribs as I can. When I am sat up a weight lands on my breast. I look down to see my pendant hanging there. I run my thumb over the surface, relishing in the comfort of the feeling it radiates. Despairing at the loss of the gold chain, looking at the leather cord that it now hangs by.

I take in the rest of the tent, which is actually fairly ornate looking. The material is thicker than the canvas of my own tent with red, black and gold accents all over the edges of the fabric.

Ivuna looks over to me, "I used a little bit of healing magic on your ribs and the cuts on your right side. I don't know very much so it didn't fully heal your ribs, but they should heal a bit faster now. I managed to fully close the cuts but there is some pretty serious scarring." She pauses for a moment, "But don't think that that gives you a free pass to be reckless about your ribs! That monster damn near broke them so you still need to let them heal or they may yet break." Monster… Yeah. I guess that is what he is. "So what is your name? We didn't hear them ever ask it." Yeah, that monster and his lackeys didn't care to know it. Sophi I had decided was a name of my past, she was gone when I had gone with Flemeth but now she is even further in the past than I could have ever imagined. Gaelea is all that is left now.

"My name is Gaelea." I look at myself and notice that my clothes have been changed.

Ivuna notices what I am looking at, "Your clothes were all ruined so we put you in some of the slaver's clothes from the other tents." Oh boy… "Don't worry, it was only myself and Joanna who changed you."

She takes a step out of the tent for a moment and when she comes back in one of the men comes in just behind her. I recognize him as the stronger looking of the two men who had been in the cage. I look up at him as he walks over to me, he is human with strong, broad shoulders tanned skin and deep brown hair and eyes.

"The name's Morvan, lass. Glad to see ya up." He and Ivuna then kneel on either side of me and gently reach their arms around my back to help me stand without straining my ribs too much. After I am standing Morvan pats my shoulder lightly and steps over to hold the tent flap open. Ivuna keeps her arm under mine and around my back to help take my first few steps. She must have known how difficult the first couple would be as my legs went unused for probably close to if not more than a week.

Once I get out of the tent, I find am able to use my legs well enough on my own, of course my first steps alone are a little shaky but I manage to do alright. Ivuna whispers in my ear who each of the people around the fire are. She instructs me that elf is Khalifa with deep auburn, the blonde human is Joanna and the black-haired man is Sylfhan. They all give little waves at me and once I've sat down next to Khalifa, she leans over to give me a water skin. A water skin that didn't last long in my dehydrated hands. Ivuna sits next to Sylfhan.

Sylfhan speaks next from the other side of the fire, "Gaelea, we were all wondering whether you would wake at all." I look up at him and manage something of a smile, at least they all shared my name is the moments it took me to get out here.

"I am not surprised…" I respond. "Actually, I'm surprised by this…" I gesture around us, "I mean the last I knew was that that asshole Dorian left and I got a couple of days of peace. But I certainly wasn't expecting to wake up on a cot." I look around to everyone, who all seem understandably relieved at this fact, "So what happened?"

Morvan, who sat a few seats down from me on my right, answers first, "Well, I am not really sure if I even believe what happened…"

"It all happened so quickly." Joanna adds, upon closer inspection I realize that Joanna is the younger woman that Dorian had taken away before. I look around the fire at the people who had been in the cage, what kind of life had they had before those slavers had taken them. Joanna looks to be around sixteen or seventeen years-old with fair skin and clear blue eyes.

Khalifa joins in, "I had been sleeping when the first scream woke me up." She looks about thirty, I wonder if she has a family that she was taken from. The lack of Vallaslin leads me to believe that she doesn't belong to any Dalish group, but I don't know how elves outside of the Dalish live their lives. She has more mid-tone skin not exactly light but not dark either and she has striking dark green eyes that complement her deep auburn hair.

Sylfhan huffs, "I think most were, even those good for nothing guards were nodding off next to the camp entrance." He looks to be close to my age maybe closer to twenty-six or so. Upon closer inspection, I can see the points of elf ears peeking from behind his black hair and he has a darker complexion than the others with hazel eyes.

Morvan chuckles, "And it serves them right! Anyway, before they could even react that warrior, what was his name?" He looks over to Ivuna for help. Morvan looks like the type who would have done work like a blacksmith. While he looks strong all over his arms seems especially powerful, again I find myself wondering how the slavers managed to capture him at all.

"Oh, um… I think his name was…" She trailed off as her gaze hovers to my left.

"It is good to see that you have awoken." A deep voice causes me to spin around to face where the voice came from, as my heart practically jumps out of my chest.

I gasp as pain shoots through my midriff. "Jesus Christ!" I curse as I clutch my side and turn forward again.

"Gaelea! Another move like that and your ribs may snap!" Ivuna snaps at me from over the fire.

The man on my left comes into the ring of seats around the fire and takes the seat on my left. He isn't close enough that I can feel him there but he is close enough that I can more or less clearly see his features. This _has_ to be this unusual warrior guy they were talking about. I could see the pointed ears poking out from beneath his white hair. In the dimming light of the early evening, I could see the brown of his skin that is etched with flowing white lines down his arms that are showing under his armor. The tattoos seem to be all across his body, I could see some on his legs and even on his chin.

His white hair is not unlike a boyband guy's hairdo the way it kind of hangs almost in front of his face and good lord he even flips it a little as he turns to look at me. Oh, and as he turns I see that he has, from what I can tell, jade green eyes.

"I apologize, I did not mean to startle you." I swear I could almost hear the barest hint of a laugh behind the ridiculously deep voice. Honestly, I feel like his voice doesn't quite fit his body. I mean sure he certainly has some muscles but he doesn't look imposing enough to have such a deep voice.

"Apology accepted… I guess. But who are you anyways?" Because I don't actually know who he is.

"I am Fenris." He speaks fairly slowly also and it only exaggerates the depth of his voice.

"This is the warrior who singlehandedly wiped out all the slavers that had us in those blasted cages." Morvan explains. Oh… Maybe it had been my imagination when I saw him glowing blue. It could have been a weird effect of how the remnants of the poison and the newly introduced drug were mixing in my system. Yeah… Glowing man? Ridiculous.

"Oh, well in that case, I guess I owe you some thanks." I look him in the eyes, I see something pass over them, almost pity and mix of other emotions but he doesn't say a whole lot.

"I cannot stand to see people being taken into slavery." Slavery, right. Something tells me that slavery isn't exactly what was in store for me, I trace my fingers over the bandages on my hand.

I stand up slowly, I see Ivuna stand also and I wave my hand at her, "I think I just need a moment on my own…" I leave the circle of seating around the fire and make my way into the darkening forest. I need to… Think.

I walk at a leisurely pace listening to the forest around me. My heartrate has been inexplicably spiking every so often, my mind sinking into the state I had been the past week. I keep expecting to find Dorian around every tree, coming at me laughing itching to finish what he had started. A couple of times I almost swear I hear the chinking of chains between the trees.

I follow the sound of trickling water to a small creek, the light of dusk fading quickly. The creek has small rocks that line the edges with an area that has a couple of larger boulders. I amble over to the boulders and begin the climb to the top of one of the boulders. The one I chose isn't exactly large, but the state of my ribs makes it a difficult and slow process, with the smallest wrong move bringing pain across my chest.

I get to the top and sit cross-legged in my 'meditation' position. I try to allow all my thoughts to settle and fade as I attempt to enter the Fade. It takes longer than I would have liked but eventually I do manage to enter the Fade, on my own this time.

As it usually is, the Fade feels slightly off from reality. Every image I conjure here looks convincing but there is something that just feels off. The way things usually would in a dream, which is essentially what the Fade is, a giant dream world. Or alternately nightmare world.

I look around trying to see if Fen'Harel is here already or if I should just wait, but the moment he enters my thought pattern he turns up.

Naturally he swiftly walks straight over to me, "Gaelea! Are you alright?" As always, I can't see his whole face with half of it being obscured by the too-many-eyes wolf mask, but I can still tell that he was worried by the thin line that his have become. He puts his hands on my shoulders, with force but somehow still seeming gentle.

"Fen'Harel! Yes, yes, I'm fine." I kind of back out of his grasp, "A warrior came and… Well, he killed all of the slavers in the camp." I look at Fen'Harel in what I can only assume are his actual eyes, "He also freed the other slaves and I." I stroll towards a nearby tree and put my hand on the unreal trunk, "Anyway, I'm alright now. I don't know if you were going to come, but you don't have to now. I'll be okay on my own." Before he can have a chance to reply I pull myself out of the Fade and back into reality. As cold and hard as it is, I definitely prefer reality over the Fade.

I open my eyes and look up to the sky, through the tree branches I can see the stars coming out now that the sky is dark. Despite the clear sky however, I can't help but feel a dark cloud hanging over me. I look back to the glistening water in the creek and feel my shoulders slump. God, I'm so tired. Ever since I got to this place it has been one thing after another. I feel like I haven't gotten a break since that explosion. I need to get home.

A flickering light catches my attention out of the corner of my eye, I turn to see a small fire some feet from boulder I am sitting on. I see some movement on the other side of the fire from me and as I turn further to see it clearly—

"You should not wander in the forest alone. It is dangerous." I feel my heart jump straight out of my chest.

"Mother of Christ— Fucking— Jesus— Fuck!" I spin around and pain shoots across my chest again. I gasp in pain as I clutch my ribs, "Damn it!" I look up, slowly, to see Fenris sitting on the other side of the small fire. "You need to stop doing that!"

He looks at me with the deepest confusion and almost puppy-dog eyes. God, this guy practically radiates brooding. "Stop doing what, exactly?" Not to mention how deep his voice is.

"Startling me. That's twice in one night now!" I heave in exasperation and my heartrate slowly steadies.

"I apologize, both were entirely unintentional." He pokes at the fire, "The point still stands that you should not have come out here on your own." He is sat in a sort of casual pose but there is something about him that says he is ready to jump into action at a second's notice. It's all in the way his muscles look tensed and ready to move.

A deep sigh escapes me, "I… Needed a minute." I fully turn myself around and dismount from the boulder. I stand next to the little fire for a second before I go to make my way back to the camp in the clearing.

"Hold a moment." He motions for me to sit opposite from him at the fire. "I have some questions to ask you." Oh dear… This sounds terribly foreboding. I don't like the sound of that at all.

"Uh… I mean, sure. Okay." I slowly lower myself to the ground taking care of how my now quite sore ribs move. I see a sort of mild confusion pass over his face after I respond, understandably, I mean my great aunt on my dad's side in England didn't know the word 'sure,' how could I expect him to. I look over at him the lines of his tattoos on his chin and neck catch the firelight with how starkly white they are against his brown skin. "So… What exactly did you want to ask me?"

From here it looks as though he is trying to find the right way to say something, "I know that this is not easy, but I need to know why you were being held separately from the others." Oh. I look up at him, what should I say to him? It's not as if I can just go and spout out that I am a magical hazard and need a necklace to keep my magic in check.

"I… Uh… Well, I don't… actually know…" I look into the fire before looking up at him, hoping that the lie would sate his curiosity. Because, I do know that it was because of what I did to the other group, Jashr's group of slavers and what I had left behind from my escape. A bubble of fear surfaces at the memory of that scene and the more recent experience with the slavers.

He meets my eyes, something in them tells me that he doesn't believe my answer. But I can't just tell him the truth, I mean I don't even really know this person. Literally all I know about this person is that his name is Fenris. I don't know where he came from or what his motivations were for saving us. I do know that there had to be a reason behind what he did and until I know that I won't be telling him much.

I look at him, "No offense, but I really don't know you, Fenris." I look down at the flames flickering between us. I think over what happened from start to finish and shiver, "Also, I don't know if I'm ready to talk about it right now." Not that I expect him to understand how I feel about the past however many days it was, as I don't actually know how long I was like that. Which I am sure was part of the reason that they got rid of my clothes.

He shifts his sitting position, "How about an exchange then? I will answer any questions you have and in return you answer mine." Huh, he's being diplomatic. That is fair but it still leaves the problem of telling him the whole truth. And whether he would believe it or not.

He lets me ponder the offer for a few minutes. While it would allow me the opportunity to learn about my impromptu savior, there is the catch that he will also learn about me. It is certainly a fair deal, but I don't know how he would take that my magic, while now in check, had the potential to kill everyone in the camp in an instant.

I look at him, meeting his eyes over the fire, "Alright, Fenris. You have a deal." I watch his expression soften a bit, "I guess I'll start this."

"Certainly, what would you ask of me, then?" He gives an expectant look.

"Well, I guess I'll start at the obvious questions then. Why did you save us? Or more specifically, what is in it for you?"

"I would not say that I have any ulterior motives." I give him a look, I know there has to be something else, I mean I know I'm not really one to talk as I haven't exactly been forward with him. "Truthfully, I have been tracking a magister since he landed at Denerim." Magister, eh? Hmm… I wonder if it could be that Danarius guy. "I followed his group until I got to the tracks where he came to what must have been the group you were in with the two cages. Then I followed the cages tracks until I caught up with you."

"Do you mean that awful Danarius man?" I watch as a deep shadow passes over his face.

"So, he did come into that group? When was it?" I'm gonna take that as a 'yes,' and seeing as he did in fact answer a question for me I will answer these ones.

"Yeah, he did come through. I even got the _pleasure_ of meeting him personally. Although, I'm sure the others would have a clearer idea of when that was. If you hadn't noticed I was a little preoccupied at the time. But it comes back to why did you follow our group then? If you were following that Danarius guy, why follow the tracks of the cages?" I counter to him.

"Is that not obvious? I followed cages to do exactly what I did. Free you and the other would-be slaves." He matter-of-factly states while poking at the fire.

I try to get eye contact with him, "But why do that? You were after Danarius and obviously there's some bad blood there, why would you make a detour for us?" He looks up with understanding in his eyes before returning his attention to the fire.

"Because I was a slave for a long time. Danarius was my master." Oh. Shit. He looks up at me again. "These tattoos were his only 'gift' to me and they were painful to receive and changed me. If I can save even one person from that kind of a life…" He trails off but doesn't break eye contact. "I have prevented many from that fate, although I cannot say that I have seen many treated as brutally as you." I look down at the bandages that cover my surely still raw wrists. "May I ask why it is that you were being held separately from the others? They told me some of the things that the band leader did before he left with Danarius." Dorian… His cold, hungry eyes flash in my vision replacing the green ones before me for a moment. I feel some tears build up in my eyes and I do my best to blink them away. What happened isn't going to go away and I need to learn how to live with it. As much as I hate to admit what he did shook me to my core and truly made me feel a deep fear I had never felt and will not ever likely feel again.

I take a deep breath, a leap of faith. I won't get anything if I don't give anything. Maybe he can even help me… "First I need to know that I can trust you." I look at him, my emerald eyes meet his jade ones and it tells me everything I need to know. "It was a while back now… I really don't know how much time it has been since then." I tell him most of what I know, I leave out some of the details regarding Flemeth and my true origin but say anything that is important otherwise.

"So basically, they had me separate like that because Dorian knew what I had done to the other slaver band and he knew how I had done it." I look at my hands, "Dorian had even keep the rest of them in the other cage nearby almost all the time as some kind of sick insurance that I wouldn't blow the camp up, because if I did I would surely have killed them all too. And that sick bastard knew that I wouldn't let them die." As frightened as the memories make me, I can't help the anger that causes my eyes to tear up and spill over. "You know, until the moment where they began to whip me, I hadn't had any magic." Hell, I hadn't even known that magic existed yet. I didn't even understand what had happened.

I use the bandages on my wrists to wipe away the tears, part of me keeps saying that I have a right to be angry and to cry. However, there is another part of me, a part that I find the longer I am here in this world the more it grows, and it tells me that if I don't want that to happen then I should just find I quiet place to hole up and die.

When I look up at him, his expression is an unreadable mix of emotions, but I could plainly see that one of the more dominant emotions was anger. I hope that I didn't make a mistake, I can't even imagine what his reaction would have been if I had told him about Flemeth, the dragon lady of Thedas, or where I came from, another world entirely. He stays silent for a good few minutes, probably processing everything that I said to him. I mean, I did kind of dump a lot of information all at once. I my own defense, however, he did ask.

He breaks the silence with, "So…" He looks from the fire to my face, "You are a mage." He says the word with some kind of contempt, as if it passing through his mouth left a foul taste behind. "I saw what happened to the other group of slavers. Danarius had made that a stop on his way to the group you were in." He turns his eyes back to the fire and narrows them, "I did not think it possible that one person could have caused that." Oh God, I hoped I didn't make an awful mistake in trusting Fenris. His gaze lands on me again, "It is no wonder as to why they would make such an effort to capture and keep you then. You would be a valuable prize to Danarius and the other magisters he is working with." Did he say 'other magisters' that are working with Danarius? Just how many people are a part of this whole slavery thing here? Will I ever escape this?

He says nothing for another few minutes, he brings he hands together and up to his mouth, thinking deeply. "I also cannot think of a mage whose powers developed so late in their life. Usually a mage's powers will begin to show no later than adolescence." Well, that I do have an explanation for, not that I can tell him that until something like a couple of months ago I was living, happily, in a world where magic doesn't exist. "However, for them it would just be another reason…"

"To be honest, I just thought they me to pay for killing their comrades or something."

"No, if that had been the case they would have simply killed you." He looks back at me, "No, they want to study you. At the location where you say your magic woke even I could feel the residue of the power that had been released, for a mage I am sure that it would have been near suffocating to experience." What does he mean that he could 'feel' the residue of my power? I grasp the stormheart hanging from my neck. Flemeth had said that my power had been infused with this stone at that spot where my magic awakened. Maybe my power awakening left something of a radioactive scar there, kind of like Chernobyl or Fukushima… That is not a comforting thought. If mages like Danarius can feel my power in that location, could they use it to track me down?

"You are certain that you are fully in control of that magic now?" He narrows his eyes in my direction; this guy has some strong feelings about magic, doesn't he…

"Yes, perfectly certain. The woman who helped me learn how to use it properly also created this." I hold up the pendant, I'm not sure if I should be saying this to him, but I need him to trust that I won't lose control for any reason. "Together we created a kind of seal on my magic and it is based in this pendant. As long as I have this, even if I were to try I wouldn't be able to access all of my magic." My mind goes to how Dorian so easily took it away and with it my control. "I think the longer I keep this with me the more stable the seal will be."

"What about to defend yourself?" He looks at me and then to my ribs. Yeah… That will be a problem.

"I can use still use magic. My skills and capacity for magic land pretty close to an average mage right now." I scrutinize my midriff, "But, honestly, I actually prefer to use swords. I'm not bad at swordplay… On a regular day. I don't know how my ribs will affect me using swords yet."

"Well, I suppose we will have to see tomorrow then." He stands and comes around to offered a hand to help me stand. He leads us through the nearly pitch black forest back to the camp.

Ivuna takes me back into the tent I woke up in and she checks my wrists, ribs and the cuts on my side. She works a little bit of healing magic into my ribs. Healing magic is amazing, it's like have the most potent mix of painkillers but without the whole going loopy part. After she finishes Khalifa enters the tent and we all sleep.

Well, kind of. My night is filled with memories that still feel real as they replay in my dreams. Over and over, I see Dorian's nefarious grin as he holds a knife over me. The unfathomable hunger I his eyes piercing my soul, causing me to wake covered I sweat throughout the night.


	13. A Worthy Companion Perhaps

**Hi everyone! I hope that you are still mostly enjoying Sophi's story! Thank you for continuing with my story. As always, please let me know any feedback you may have, I am always willing to listen to comments, questions or critiques of and on my work!**

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Chapter 13

After a few days, just as he said we would do, we are about to test my sword skills against his own. Not that I think I have a chance with ribs that are still sore. Ivuna has been working more healing magic into them in the mornings and evening for the past few days. My ribs feel much better today, sore still, but I have a better range of movement than last night.

I have been stretching and testing the limits of my movement so that I know what kind of maneuvers to avoid in my impending sparring match. While I had lost touch with most of the active bones in my body when I started post-secondary I can still recall most of the basic stretches to improve movement. Well… Not that I'd have the time to stretch before any sudden battle on the road or in the wilds.

Despite the fact that Ivuna says she isn't very skilled with healing magic, she has done very well on my ribs. I am feeling stiffness, which could very well be from being chained up for a long period of time, and I only feel pain at the points when I am pushing the stretch to the extremity. Ivuna did inform me of how many days had passed with me chained to the cage. Eleven days. Which would make stiffness a given.

Luckily for me though, they hadn't done away with my stuff. Khalifa and Joanna had found their own, the others' and my own stuff all in one of the boxes. It looked as though they had been meaning to sell at the first real chance. Again, luckily for me, that chance had not come yet. Some more silver lining to this, they hadn't found all the places that I had hid my money in my bag. Cautious packing for the win! All in all in have most of the money I started with, although where there rest went I don't know. Not to mention all of my clothes, expect for the pants and shirt I had been wearing at the beginning, all appear to be present and intact. In fact, I am now wearing the brown, supple leather pants and an off-white cotton shirt that Adora had created for me while I had been in Highever. I am glad that I asked Adora for a good few outfits. Had I not done that… Well… I would be having to improvise. As it is, that is not the case and I can wear clothes that were literally made for me.

My swords were also there, the one I had gotten from Keeper Narthes and the one Himsulem had given to me when we had parted ways. They are, fortunately, undamaged. Sitting down on one of the logs next to the fire pit and pick up the sword Himsulem gave to me

"I still think this is a bad idea." Ivuna sits down next to me, "Your ribs are my best heal ever and you might just undo all of it with this pointless sparring match." She has been trying to convince me all morning to not do this, but at this point I am more doing it to prove a point. If anything, I'm glad that my stubborn streak hasn't abandoned me… Yet. I'm sure that I wouldn't have lasted half the time I spent in the cage without it.

"I know, Ivuna. But I need to know that I can still defend myself if I need to."

"But is it really necessary to fight against the strongest person present? Couldn't you just fight, say, Morvan?" She gestures to the large man as he emerges from a tent.

He grunts a quick laugh, "Unfortunately, yesterday she did that. Put me on my ass right quick too!" At that Ivuna flashes an impatient glare at me.

"What if your ribs had broken? Honestly!" She huffs as she stands and marches back into the tent.

Morvan sits down on my left, sporting the slight bruise that he got during our sparring match yesterday across his cheek. "You know, you don't have to go in your own." He pauses before he makes eye contact, "Tomorrow the lots of us will be going to Jader to take a ship to Amaranthine." The other night we had been talking and they shared where they are from and need to return to. Go figure that they are all from close to Amaranthine.

"Thank you, Morvan. But like I said, I need to go to Val Royeaux. I need to find information and with the Circles gone it is going to be very hard. My only clue is to start in Val Royeaux."

"Yeah, yeah…" He runs his hand through his shaggy brown hair, "So you're set in your ways, eh?" He stands, "Well, in that case, you better try to win against him too." He chuckles before walking into the forest where the deeper river stream that we have been using to clean up.

Fenris has been using this time to map out where the slavers are working most and to see if any of the correspondence between Dorian and Danarius is still in the stuff from the other slavers. I did tell him that I had heard something about the two of them going to Southern Orlais for something, so he has been using what he finds to map out where they are likely to go. On that note, Fenris did say that Val Royeaux would be a convenient stop on his way to the southern reaches of Orlais and that it would be advantageous for us to travel together. Although part of me wonders whether it was more the others speaking though him than Fenris actually offering to travel with me to Val Royeaux. This is because I did find on the map that Val Royeaux while not exactly off the path to Southern Orlais, it isn't really a convenient stop when travel to the towns down that way like Montsimmard and Val Firmin. Deduction says that, because Fenris seemed to be pretty intense about the whole Magister Danarius bit and the whole thing that Val Royeaux isn't exactly convenient for him, the others have somehow convinced him to practically usher me to my next destination.

That being said, my pride feels a little bruised over the whole matter. It wasn't until I trusted someone that I ended up in trouble. I feel my shoulders slump and I look at my wrists again. They have healed enough that I don't need bandages but the evidence of the manacles is still fairly visible against my pale skin. Sorcha… A hole in my heart has developed over this. There is a part of me that knows that she only did what she did because Dorian had been threatening her family. Then there is the voice of reason that reminds me that if I hadn't allowed myself to so easily trust her in the first place he wouldn't have gone after her parents. That if I hadn't seen her after that first night, or if I had simply ignored her that monster would never have gone after her or her family to get to me. I force it out of my mind. What's done is done. There is no sense in dwelling on 'could-have-been's and lost possibilities.

Honestly, if the anticipation for the sparring match with Fenris hadn't been so intense, I probably would have left any of the past few nights on my own. I had told Fenris, almost, everything but I don't think that I actually trust him yet. There is something unusual about him, but I guess I'm one to talk, eh? The girl from another world with uncontrollable power calling someone else out on their weirdness… Yep.

I get up and walk over to the tent that I've been sharing with the other women. Next to my cot, is the pile of stuff that belongs to me. This pile includes all the meager armor I own as well as my bag and my other sword… I place the one in my hand on the cot and put the other one with it. I reach down to grab my armor, like my swords it has all gone untended. Luckily in the grand scheme of things it really wasn't too long but there is evidence that it wasn't exactly handled with care. There are scuffs and scratches that weren't there when I put it on for my would-be trip to Val Royeaux. I run my finger over a long scratch in the leather of my single pauldron and can't help the grimace that spreads across my face. My armor wasn't cheap.

I begin to put it all on, fitting slightly differently than before but I guess more than a week of not eating will do that. Tightening the lacing on the leather vest was a little trickier than I remember because of the good few inches that I will have to gain back but I managed to get it on after a few minutes of tightening the laces row by row. I put the bracers and the pauldron on after that. Although, I'm sure that all things considered the armor I do own isn't really even close to a full set… I don't even really have a chest piece, only the leather vest that, according to the blacksmith, wouldn't stop a whole lot of anything. Honestly though, I am hoping that it won't ever have to.

After I have strapped on my swords I step out of the tent to see Fenris standing in the space where the cages used to be until a couple of days ago. We had moved them to maybe lead any of the slavers' associates away from where we are and are going. Tuning back in, I hadn't actually seen Fenris with his sword strapped to his back. But holy moly. That is a sword and with it on his back it easily takes up a large portion of his body, how can he possibly wield that easily? Although, I'm sure that he is very skilled with it because if he weren't we wouldn't be in this position now. In fact, I would still be chained up. Geez, even when he walks he looks perfectly balanced. I wonder how long it took for him to become so accustomed to that weapon.

He turns to face me as I approach him. "Are you sure you are well enough for this?" I stretch to test my movement.

"Yeah, ready as I'll ever be anyway." I put my hands on my hips, "I've lost enough time to this whole catastrophe either way."

"You speak as if it were more of an inconvenience than anything." He reaches for his blade and draws it slowly.

"If it weren't for you it would certainly be more than that, but thanks to your intervention I can leave it in the past." I draw the sword at my hip and get into a ready stance.

I going in for the first attack just to get it started. I go in for a simple forward strike at him and he deftly deflects it with his sword. He goes in for a counter attack and things take a steady exchange in blows. I am amazed by the fluidity with which he wields that weapon. Each movement is smooth and flows into the next with ease. Even when I go change how I am attacking he adapts efficiently and easily.

He ends this bout by feinting around behind me and tapping the flat of his blade against my back.

"You leave too many openings and blind spots." He hefts the weapon onto his shoulder, "When you're in a battle you must be aware of everything happening around you." Ugh… That sounds just like Himsulem berating me over these mistakes. But he's right. I was too focused on the fluidity of his movement to watch where they were going to take him.

Another few rounds go fairly similarly to the first, each round picking up pace and difficulty. Once I get used to the feeling of my sword in my hand again, it gets easier to watch how he moves and where his eyes are focused and the direction that his blade is moving. Also with each round the movement my feet take gets more fluid and I feel lighter on my feet with the quick adjustments getting easier.

He walks in front of me again and holds his weapon at the ready. I go in for a side swipe at his right side, aiming to makes use of the way he holds his sword. He almost doesn't get the angle right as my sword clangs against his. I use my sword to push off of his to launch myself into the air with a slight spin. When my back is to him, I reach and grasp the sword on my back with my left hand. As I come around I bring the second sword down against weapon. The movement pushes his sword down and as I finish my turn and land in a half crouch bringing his weapon into the ground while I bring my other sword to point at his neck.

I look up at him, panting from the exertion, a slight soreness beginning in my chest at my ribs. I bring my swords back and watch as the surprise on his face turns into a slight grin. He yanks his sword from the ground and brings it back up.

"I can not say that I have ever seen someone dual-wield with two longswords like that. I have seen people with daggers and perhaps one sword with a dagger. That was good, now let us see how well you can actively wield both swords in full combat." I see a hint of wickedness enter his grin. He gets into his ready stance.

He is luring me into something here. I know that he hasn't been going all-out with me to this point, because even as I get more comfortable with the movements and fighting he has been at about the same amount better than me.

I had been about to sheathe the left sword but instead I get into my own ready stance with both swords ready to go. I don't know how well this will go… I have never faced anyone using both swords before, I have practiced plenty with the two swords but it was more a last-ditch effort to show him that I'm not totally helpless.

This time he begins the match. Things go smoothly, everything I had been practicing with the two swords comes back easily. I fair pretty well, I get knocked down a few times but get back up quickly. During the fight, I find that I am getting comfortable with wielding two swords. My movements from position to position get smoother and more controlled. I'm sure Fenris has noticed that too because he keeps getting more difficult to fight, it's a steady change but the change is there just as it is with my own improvement. We get to a point where I am practically on par with him, I am consistently avoiding being knocked down, I parry most of his blows and counter some. I cross both my swords in front of him, they give off a deafening clang as they meet his greatsword and Fenris is pushed back a few feet.

He stands in his ready position and looks up at me, a small but wicked grin grows across his face. I get into my ready stance again, when a flash of light emanates from him. He is glowing. The light is coming from his tattoos, but affects his entire body. He launches at me with unbelievable speed and I bring my swords up in front of me just in time to stop a blow that creates a gust of wind around me, blowing the dirt into a cloud around my feet. Just as quickly he changes his attack and I have only seconds to adjust.

The next few blows go this way before I begin to adapt to this style of fighting. That is until he lands me flat on my back and aims the sword right at my neck. My heart pounding and my lungs burning from pushing too hard, I let my head fall to the ground with exhaustion as I look at the sky for a moment. I look back at him as he pulls his sword away and extends his free hand to me. I grasp it and he all too efficiently pulls me to my feet in a motion that I am sure could have easily given me whiplash.

I narrow my eyes at him, my breath still a bit short, "What exactly was that?"

He smiles lightly this time. "The tattoos are laced with lyrium. They increase my strength and speed." Lyrium… If I remember correctly between Dhaveira and Flemeth lessons, it is a sort of mineral that increases magical abilities. I think I remember something about the Templars using it for something. Now apparently, I need to add lyrium tattoos to my information banks. The glowing stops. Yeah… Fenris is definitely weird.

"So… You were actually glowing when you stormed into the camp? I thought that the drug they used to put me under was reacting weird with the poison that Dorian had put on his dagger." We walking over to the camp fire, I'm stilling panting and can feel the burning in my muscles that tells me I am going to have a sore body tomorrow. "I thought I was hallucinating when I saw that."

Morvan cuts in, "Yeah, it is certainly an unusual trick he has." He moves around the fire, putting some meat over it to cook.

I look at Fenris, "How exactly did you get those tattoos then? That can't be a regular thing to have here, can it?" My heart skips a beat, I hope he passes that off as a weird phrase that I used. He gives me a sort of curious look but nothing more. Tattoos are painful to get in the first place… I can't imagine the pain from having a mineral like lyrium grafted to your skin. I feel like it would be similar to having some kind of heavy metal tattoo. And they cover his whole body…

We sit at around the fire; the day is slowly coming to a close with the sun about half-way to the horizon from the highest point. I wonder what time this is…

Anything that he was about to say gets interrupted by Joanna running into the camp causing Fenris and Morvan to stand up abruptly, "No, no! There isn't a problem! We just need Gaelea!" I turn to face as she runs over to me.

"What for?" Surely there isn't anything that I can do better than anyone else here…

Khalifa emerges from the treeline and goes to the tent. Joanna comes in front of me and grasps my hand, "We need to show you something!" Khalifa comes out of the tent with a sack in her hand.

"Oh… Alright." I comply with her pulling and stand up. I allow her to direct me into the forest, my mind worried about going in with them alone but the other part of me just wants to trust her.

A couple of minutes of walking with Khalifa and Joanna and we emerge from the trees to find Ivuna standing next to a pond of some sort.

Joanna hops around beside me, "Look! A hot spring!" What? I look back to the pond and sure enough there is steam rising from the surface of the water.

Khalifa and Joanna go to a rock that sits at the edge of the water, Joanna immediately begins to strip to go into what is surely very nice water. Khalifa unpacks the bag revealing bottles and other items that must be soaps or something, then she also begins to strip. Well… What can I lose from this? I begin to work at taking off my armor and clothes.

I slip into the water's warm embrace. I sink in as I settle down next to Ivuna who passes me a bottle of scented soap. I let the heat of the water soak into my muscles easing the long sparring match(es) out of them.

I wash my hair slowly, letting the soap permeate my hair. Once I have rinsed it out, I lean back against one of the smooth rocks lining the hot spring and close my eyes. I let myself sit that way for a while, the warm water around me and for a moment I imagine myself back at home. I am reclined in the tub at my parent's mansion. My heart aches with the longing that bubbles up from the reverie.

I can feel the tears building up behind my eyelids, the stinging from them developing, when Khalifa speaking brings me out of the lovely daydream.

"This is like heaven after all that bullshit." I open my eyes, the clear blue sky still there with the clouds becoming coloured by the coming sunset.

"Yeah, you are certainly right on that account…" Ivuna comments in return. I continue to stare at the sky, she certainly isn't wrong about it feeling amazing, but it's mostly just being a reminder that I am here and not there.

I bring my head back up and look at the three women who had been used to keep my magic in check, "So… What were…" I pause for a moment, trying to think of way to say what I'm thinking, but how do you ask someone about the life they were torn away from? "Where…"

Ivuna smiles at me, "You mean to ask who we are? Where we are from, right?" She moves a little closer and puts her hand on my shoulder, "It's okay that you want to know." She sits facing me and I sit up and the other two move in closer, "They got me just as I was heading back into Amaranthine, I had been helping a farmer's wife with the chores while he had been travelling. My husband has a steady job at the smithy but I generally do what work I can find. I was going to pick up some vegetables from a friend to bring my husband and kids back in the alienage inside the city." She looks down, "They ambushed me when I was on the path in the forest. But now I will be able to go back to them. Alienage or not I definitely miss my home and family." I can relate to that. Probably more than Ivuna can even imagine, except perhaps the part about the 'alienage.' That is a word I don't recognize or understand.

Joanna pipes up, "I'm from Amaranthine too!" She looks down a little, "Although… I am actually from one the lower noble houses…" Now that she says it makes sense, pale skin here would mean that she spends the majority of her time indoors and not working outside or in fields. "I had been fooling around in the meadow next to the cliff with my fiancée." Her head hangs a little lower, Khalifa places a hand on Joanna's shoulder in comfort, "When the slavers first came from trees he tried to get us both away, but…" She gathers herself before continuing, "While we were running I tripped and fell down. He tried to help me up at first but then the slavers got closer and he ran away." She takes a moment, before she straightens her back and looks up in a way that I imagine only a noble could, "Although, now that we will be going back there I can make sure that my father knows exactly what that coward did!" She stands up in the superhero pose, "There's no way my father will let me marry such a bigoted louse." She beams a large smile at all of us before sitting back down. They take a moment to laugh about the soon-to-be fate of that poor boy. As humorous as the end of the story is I find that I am not even smiling, where before I would have lost my shit laughing upon hearing her intentions upon arriving home.

Once they finish laughing, Khalifa begins her story, "I've been with those slavers since they nabbed me outside of Alamar." She pauses a moment before taking a breath and continuing, "It was that Dorian bastard. He had come into town and had enchanted my friend who works at a tavern there. She had been talking about him non-stop since they had met. She was so smitten with him that I couldn't stand it." Another deep breath before going on, "However… She was still my friend so when she told me that he wanted her to elope with him, I couldn't help but be suspicious about his sudden offer. So, I followed her to the port that he had invited her to see what was happening." She sighs deeply, "I watched her as she approached him, but I think that she must have noticed something was off because she began to struggle against him. She managed to get out of his arms and started to run. I saw him order some people to follow her, so I started towards her to head off the men chasing her but then one tackled me from behind." She looks up at us, a small smile one her face, "I'm not sure if it had anything to do with my involvement but she never ended up on that ship with me. Which I am so thankful for. She has never been the kind to be strong of mind." She looks down for a moment, "It makes me happy to think that I might have spared her this pain." She pulls her wrist out of the water where slight pink line from rope remain, but she doesn't let it dampen her spirit at all; I wish I knew how I could be so strong like these three women.

Ivuna redirects her attentions to me, "What about you Gaelea? When they brought you into the camp it looked as though you were planning on travel a fair distance. I assume that you were just starting your journey to Val Royeaux." Oh shit… What am I supposed to say to that? I don't know if anything I say would be convincing to these women. I should have created a sort of backstory for myself I suppose but I hadn't expected that I would be in a position to need one.

"Uh… Yeah, I had just left Highever actually…" I start with something that at least is fully truth…

"Were they targeting you or something? I mean the group stayed in that location longer than any other spot to that point." Khalifa interjects.

"Also with how they had that poor girl's parents in the cage with us for a few days." Ivuna adds. Yeah… Sorcha's parents, whom Dorian had been using as leverage to get Sorcha to bring me out to the slavers.

"Uh… Well, yeah. They were targeting me." There is no sense in hiding that kind of information from them, especially when they already had suspicions about it with fairly solid foundations. "They used the girl, Sorcha, to lure me out to them easily. They must have seen me with her on the first day I got to Highever. Although, I will admit I'm not sure how they knew who I was in the first place." I bring my hand to my chin in pondering.

Joanna speaks next, "Were they looking for you or something?"

I sigh deeply, we've gone this far already, might as well keep going, "Well actually, there was another slaver group, who were apparently comrades with this group, who had already captured me. I had escaped them some time ago because they all got killed." I look up at the sky, that is finally darkening, "I imagine they wanted answers about how the other slavers died, not that I could have given them answers anyway." I shrug hoping that it will bring an end to the conversation, but then we are interrupted by the sound of someone calling our names.

Khalifa curses and yells into the forest, "If you guys come any closer I will personally flay you and cook you over the fire back at the camp!" I can't help the small smile that tugs at the corners of my lips.

* * *

After a little while longer we all begrudgingly went back to the camp and told the guys about the hot spring. Sylfhan responded with indignance about us having kept it secret to enjoy it alone for a while without letting them know right away, although I think he was more giving Khalifa a hard time about it.

After we ate the meal, that Sylfhan had hunted and Morvan had cooked over the fire, the guys all got ready and went over to the hot spring to enjoy a time in the soothing water; even Fenris went along with them.

When they had all left, the ladies went about cleaning up most of the camp taking the unused tents down, which I helped a little bit before slinking off into the forest to the creek with the boulder. This time it is already dark and so I conjure a small flame in my hand, I had noticed it slightly before but with the silence of the forest it is more evident that when I use magic there is almost a tune to it. I can hardly hear it right now but I wonder whether it would be louder if I cast more powerful magic, but that experiment will have to wait. I find the place where I had gone to the Fade before, the evidence of the fire Fenris had made marks the place as the place we had been at.

I sit in the boulder, feeling much better than the last time I had done this. Not a single ache in my ribs this time around as I clamber up to the top of the rock, instead of just the lowest one I could find.

Once there I sit and take a deep slow breath, to slow my breathing to a steady rhythm and close my eyes. A few minutes of sitting like that and I feel the familiar sensation of the change in atmosphere. I open my eyes to find that I am again next to the stream at the site where I first entered Fade. I look around at the now familiar area as I begin to stretch and manipulate my surrounds. Before I know I am sitting in the living room that Arry and I shared. I guess the warm water affected me more than I had thought. I run my hand over the fake but convincing suede texture of the couch and my heart clenches. I clench my fist tightly, even if I get back home this place is gone. Along with the way the two of us could sit in this space for hours either chatting, watching movie after movie or just sitting in comfortable silence.

Those times are gone forever now though.

I wait in that space for a while, wondering whether Fen'Harel will show up… Especially after I told him he wouldn't need to help me anymore.

"I was not sure whether I should expect to see you here again, Gaelea." I had felt him nearing me before he had spoken, Fen'Harel has a very specific presence here in the Fade, as I suspect I must as well since he seems to be able to find me very easily.

"I figured it was a bad idea to leave things like I did. I'm sorry… I…" I pause, I make the area turn back into the forest from before, "A lot had happened and I wasn't really sure what to do yet. But I've thought it over now."

"Oh?" He stops about four feet away from me, "And what decision have you made?" His lips form a kind smile, the only real indication of emotion that I can see other than his body language.

I try to sort out all of the thoughts that have been running through my mind, "Well… I definitely need to get a more concrete grasp of my magic." I look at where I assume his eyes are on the wolf mask, "I don't want the presence or absence of the pendant Flemeth gave me to affect how well I can control my magic."

He takes a few steps closer and puts a hand on my shoulder, "With the nature of the seal that Flemeth created, it is likely that with time the seal will become more stable the longer it is in place." His head tilts, I notice that he has a dimple on his chin, but the mask still covers most of his facial features, even at this proximity, "You just need to endure the time between now and then." He takes his hand off of my shoulder and takes a few steps closer to the stream on my left, "Now can you tell me what happened? For a time, your presence was lingering between the Fade and the physical world. What happened that caused that effect?" He turns to face me again. He said I had been somewhere between the physical world and the Fade. I don't know how that happened.

"I guess I'll start from the beginning…" I went over any details I could remember, Fen'Harel trying to piece together why I had been in, in his words, 'an unstable state.' He seemed pretty sure that it had something to do with my pendant and maybe the drug that Dorian had used to subdue me. I told him about the other would-be slaves that Dorian had been using as leverage to make sure that I wouldn't try to use my magic to escape like I had the first time. Also about the elven warrior whose tattoos glow blue. While that had caught Fen'Harel's attention the most it was the thing I knew the least about. I also told him I would be travelling to Val Royeaux, probably with him, soon.

After talking about all of that Fen'Harel asked if I would be able to make it here regularly again. I told him I would try, before saying goodbye and leaving the Fade to find myself in the forest again.

I let myself fall backwards and lay across the boulder's top to look at the stars through the open canopy of the trees again. I find myself thinking about what stars are used in constellations here. I could list the constellations from home but here the stars are just that, with no discernable arrangements in my mind.

"Back from the Fade, are you?" My heart nearly stops at the sudden appearance of the deep voice in the forest that practically sends me flying to the stars as I sit upright and turn to face where the sound came from.

"Holy fucking shit!" I see the small fire in the same place it had been in before. Next to it is the, probably proud of himself right now, elf. "God dammit, Fenris! I told you not to do that anymore!" I lay back again and hold my heart trying to calm it to a reasonable speed.

This reaction elicits a slight chuckle out of the troublesome elf, "Perhaps you should be more cautious of where you choose to enter the Fade." I climb down from the top of the boulder to land and sit myself down next to the little fire that Fenris nurses.

"How do you know that that is where I was?" I didn't think it would be that obvious but I guess it must be.

"I was not certain at first but after you did not respond when I first got here it was the only conclusion that made sense. Although, I have never met a mage that had to go to such lengths to get into the Fade." He pauses for a moment but not with enough time or me to respond, "I am not surprised however that you seem to enjoy it there, most mages do. Although, I find that place very unwelcoming myself."

"Well actually, I don't really like it there…" I look into the fire searching for the right words to describe why, "I find that everything there feels… False or… Ingenuine." I look at him to find that he is already looking at me, "As for why I have trouble getting there, let's just say that I am an unconventional mage to say the least."

A small smile appears at the edges of his lips as he returns to tending the fire, "Yes, it seems you are indeed an unconventional mage." The expression is almost reminiscent as he gazes into the fire.

After a few minutes of sitting in silence he continues speaking, "I understand that you still want to continue on to Val Royeaux. May I ask why?" He approaches the question with caution; obviously, he doesn't want to overstep any boundaries, although I am not sure if I can really get into that can of worms at this point. For the one reason that I need to go there is to begin my search for a way back home, but it isn't as if I can simply drop the bomb that I am from another world. Not exactly something you tell someone who you just met.

So, the question remains, what can I say to him that will make sense and isn't exactly a lie? Hoping to answer without leaving too much time after his question I just go with the basics that I had established with Jonas and Sorcha, "I am looking into some magic stuff and I was told that Val Royeaux might be a good place to start." I can tell that he can see the holes in the answer but I hope that the slight disdain that he appears to have towards magic entices him to leave it at that.

"Yes, Val Royeaux would likely be a good place to start, but you may need to go further yet. Especially since the Circles fell." He brings a hand up to his face in thought. "I am travelling to Southern Orlais to find Danarius…" An exasperated sigh before, "Since the area will likely soon be plagued by slavers attempting to track down the camp, I imagine that you should probably travel with me, at least until we are in Val Royeaux"

Oh… I hadn't thought of that… And since the group that had us was headed to Jader to get a boat, I imagine that they will probably be searching for the camp outward from there.

The idea of how many people are involved in this slaves' business makes my stomach churn.

I look up at Fenris who returns my gaze with expectance, "I guess when you put it that way…"


	14. A Bumpy Road

**Incredibly sorry about the delayed update! My last month of school and the whole summer have been very busy, with my study tour and my last term before my graduation!**

 **I hope that everyone can still enjoy reading the story as much I have enjoyed writing it!**

 **Thank you for continuing with my story!**

* * *

It's been a couple of days now since we dismantled the camp. We found a whole bunch of things that had been from the others too, along with Arry's locket and a couple of the things that I hadn't found inside my bag. We took down all the tents and I took the canvas from one of the smaller ones to replace my battered and ruined one.

We divvied up everything that would be of use to us and burned the rest before beginning the trek west to Jader.

Apparently, the group of people I'm with is fairly competent with a variety of weapons, with the exception of Joanna who was raised in a noble house. She says that her father never condoned the idea of his precious little girl wielding a weapon of any kind. Which oddly enough, sounds not unlike something my father or mother would say if they could see what I've become. Which I suppose is what caused that rift to form between us. A rift that I now deeply regret and with every day that passes before I get home. Although with each passing day, the causes of the rift seem more and more pointless and trivial.

I look up at the sky the between the trees as we walk along the small deer path that winds through the forest. My hand wanders up to my ear, exploring the shape of the point that it comes to and then my hand moves down my face. A pain settles deep in my heart, even if I do get home… Is there any chance that my family would even recognize me? My hand forms a fist next to my face in the pain and drops to my side, I close my eyes trying the squeeze the thought from my mind. Luckily, I am last in our line of people moving along the small and winding path. I let my head drop to look at the people in front of me as we come to a slow and stop entirely.

That is a cliff. I step a bit closer and peer over the edge. Whelp, that is unfortunate. I look down to see Sylfhan, Ivuna and Fenris examining the edge to see if there is a way down. I look out over the distance spread out before us.

The sun is still in the sky but it is definitely making its way down to the horizon that the cliff has a spectacular view of. The forest stretches out from where we are with some glistening of the sea to the north. Something that is just too far away to see clearly but I can make out the shape of something that is definitely not a part of the forest…

Joanna hops up next to me on my right and exclaims out loud, "By Andraste! What a beautiful sight!"

Khalifa steps up to my left, "It is indeed. And if I'm not mistaken we can even see Jader in the distance, over there." She points in the general direction of the not-forest stuff that I saw, so that's Jader. I wonder how many kilometers that is… Not that anyone here would even know what that measurement means, so I dismiss the thought.

After another five minutes or so it is decided that we will make camp for the night amongst the trees at the top of this cliff. For this my feet were thankful. What I would give for a modern combustion engine and the car to go with it.

* * *

The next day we made it to Jader by the time the sun began to set.

At Fenris' insistence the others all entered the city at separate times. He said that it would deter any slavers that would otherwise be suspicious, mainly those who would be suspicious if all of us entered the city together. I guess there are plus sides to the lack of cameras and internet. Although, Fenris also decided that it would draw too much attention if he entered the city, and as I was about to go to head to the city he also pointed out that these slavers had been able to identify me easily without any images and heavily suggested that I remain outside the city with him.

And so, I parted ways with the others of our group. More goodbyes and more people that I will likely never see again.

I look up at the darkened sky, we have made a small camp some distance away from the road. Here is where the others departed from, Morvan left first and Sylfhan left around thirty minutes after him. Ivuna and Joanna left together about an hour later, with Ivuna posing as Joanna's handmaiden so that the youngest of us wouldn't have to be alone. Khalifa left a little less than an hour after they did. Luckily, the slavers had had plenty of items around so that each person could settle into an appropriate disguise in order to get through the city safely. Unfortunately, that would also involve them pretending to not know each other, all in effort to protect each other. But that all will only work if the slavers don't catch onto them, and Fenris and I staying away from the city will, hopefully, make a difference.

I can't stop the sigh that escapes me. I have never felt so heavy. There is only one time of my life that remotely compares to this, and that was the feeling of having my parents cut me out of their lives. The only thing that had been capable of hauling me out of that pit of misery was the friendship that started then with Arry. If only I could have a friend like that now. Someone who could help me climb out of this desolation.

I had just finished my Fade time learning more magic with Fen'Harel, according to him I have surpassed the abilities of most Circle trained mages at this point. He has also told me that there is not much else I can actually learn while Flemeth's seal is fully in place. Meaning that until Flemeth decides that I am matured enough to be in her presence, any magically training is pretty well at a stand still. And goodness knows how long it will take for me to become world-wisened enough to suit her tastes.

I look over to Fenris, who almost looks to be napping against a nearby tree. The small doubt forms in my mind of whether I can really trust him but with him around minimally the slavers won't be a problem so push the nagging feeling from the lack of trust to the back of my mind. I might as well stick with him for now.

* * *

I open my eyes to see that the sky is lightening to the east. Great. Yet another sleepless night has left me feeling exhausted and sleepy but unable to drift into the ever-familiar blackness that is becoming more elusive the more I try to get there. I heave a deep sigh.

The thing that has been keeping me from sleep is a deep-seated anxiety. It is like the feeling that I used to get when I would be lying in my bed at home with all the lights off and have it occur to me that I don't remember whether or not I remembered to lock the door before going to bed. Unfortunately, when you're camping there is no front door to get up and go see to alleviate the anxiety keeping me from sleep and so I try to ignore it. Although, apparently, resistance is futile.

I sit up and look around at the small camp where we had set up the tent canvases between the trees and against the cliff wall. They aren't there now, as we had packed up our camp last night in order to be ready to leave first thing in the morning. Although, it seems that there is a missing fixture in the camp. I turn to face the other side of the camp, from the cliff wall to the line of trees that marks the edge of the thick forest. Nope, not there either. Where on Earth… Wait… Where in Thedas is Fenris?

I rub the sleeplessness from my eyes, where did he go? I blink a few times and stand up from my sleeping roll. I focus on the sounds around the camp, my inner-alarms blaring. I slowly turn my head listening to each direction as carefully as I can. A snap of a twig to my left, not exactly nearby but close enough to get me worried, so I reach over grasping both of my swords. Luckily, I have taken the habit of wearing just clothes to sleep. Pyjamas are a thing of the past.

I slowly remove each sword from its sheath so that I make as little noise as possible. I cautiously begin to make my way towards the source of the sound.

I walk until I can no longer see our modest camp through the thickening trees. Each step is deliberate and careful, the less noise I make the more other sounds I can hear. The lesson from Fenris rings through my mind. I think I know what is happening… I adjust the grip on my swords readying for what I'm sure is coming.

A familiar whooshing has me turning around to parrying the blade cutting through the air towards me. After a successful parry, I leap backwards from where the white-haired elf stands with his weapon already prepared for the next attack. My heart already pounding with adrenaline.

The green eyes piercing, "Good." The curt statement followed by, "Now do it again."

* * *

I flop to the ground exhausted. My swords barely still in my grasp as they lay against the dirt. I look up and between the branches of the trees around us I can see patches of blue sky peeking out from behind what had been a grey predawn sky until now. A tattooed hand extends over my vision, I lazily follow the arm attached to it to the smug face of Fenris. I reach for and grasp the hand; a deft tug brings me to my feet once again.

Himsulem had trained me but never quite this exhaustively. Fenris is ruthless about getting me better at handling my swords. The last couple of times when we stay in one hidden spot for a couple of days we have been working on my abilities with dual-wielding my swords. Most of these days so far have been with me using sticks of the right length to work on the moving primarily but today we put everything I had worked on to the test. To a seemingly very long, very arduous, and extremely physically exhausting test.

In the time that we have been travelling together, I have noticed that the stoniness of his sage eyes has softened little by little. With every time, we train together they soften a little further. Although, I find that every time that I return from the Fade or he sees me practice my magic, I can see something of a harshness enter his eyes. Sometimes it is for a moment and other times it lingers, I don't know much of his past other than that he had been a slave under Danarius, but something must have happened to foster a hatred for magic. But, I can also tell that something has caused him to try looking past that hatred.

My past has come up more and more lately, and thanks to that, I have been constructing a plausible backstory for myself that doesn't involve green explosions and physically travelling between worlds. So far what I have is that I was from the alienage in Highever and that when it was discovered that I had magic my mother took me to a nearby Dalish clan to learn magic. Unfortunately, the keeper of that clan had been unable to take me on as an apprentice. So, they taught me the basics, the Keeper created the magic amulet to help me control my power and sent me to find a new place to learn magic. Hence trip to Val Royeaux to find someone who can still teach me magic, even though the Circles of Magi have fallen.

So far, though I am not sure whether Fenris totally believes me, he seems to trust that he knows everything he needs to know. Although, it probably helps that I don't ask about him beyond what he brings up himself, it helps to keep a reason as to why I am on the more secretive side.

It has also crossed my mind to simply travel with him all the way to the location he intends to go. Perhaps, with both my swords and my magic, and with no collateral being held against their will, I could win against Danarius' group of lackeys. Dorian included.

"You have improved greatly since we separated from the rest of the group." He pauses as we begin to trek back to our small camp against the cliff wall, snapping me out of the inner thoughts, "Faster than anyone I have ever seen, I think. At the rate you are going, you could probably be more powerful than a seasoned fighter in a matter of months."

I wonder to myself whether I will some day be able to trust Fenris enough to tell him the truth, but a painful twinge in my chest reminds me of Sorcha. I had trusted her, and then I had paid for it with no one to blame but myself.

Since we left the others in Jader we had been on and off the roads and we hadn't been at a single inn yet, but we have stopped in a couple of towns to pick up supplies before continuing on our camping streak.

Needless to say… I am _so_ done with camping. I didn't like it before coming to this place and I certainly don't like it now. I don't think that I have truly been warm since I left Jonas' inn in Highever; I have only experienced varying degrees of cold or freezing.

I can get by most days without thinking about home, every day that passes since I left the slavers' camp behind has been easier. Although, I'm not sure that I will ever be able to let myself really trust someone again. Honestly though, I hope that the day comes when I can trust Fenris completely.

Last night, we packed up our meager camp to ensure that we would be ready go at first light and now we are picking up our bags getting ready to hit the road now that the sun is rising.

After a few hours of walking, and an incessant inner dialogue of complaints, we finally take a quick break just off the main road. I take my boots off and message my sore feet, wondering in his direction how he can possibly do all this walking with… Whatever those are that he wears on his feet… Or more accurately, what he isn't wearing on his feet.

"You should not remove your boots, it leaves you unprepared to leave a spot quickly. Especially since we are not certain that they are not looking for either of us." He adjusts the strap on one of the packs he is carrying, and I proceed to remove the other boot while rolling my eyes.

"I just need to for a minute, my feet feel like they might fall off." I should not have complained. Which he seems to see me think, because he turns to me and makes a face that says 'Seriously?' Ugh… "Fine…" Reluctantly I start pulling the boots back on and lace them up deliberately and slowly.

I sigh deeply as I watch Fenris take a seat across from me and reach into his pack to grab the food. I had tried to resolve to not complain, and for the most part I have kept good to that. Unfortunately, we had been going steadily for the past while since we parted ways with the others of our group and my body is having a tough time keeping up with it. Lack of solid sleep at night hasn't exactly been helping. Sure, we have been working a sort of sleep schedule that alternates the person keeping watch. I have been very consistently taking the first watch, hoping that the exhaustion of the day will build up so that when my turn to sleep comes around I can, hopefully, lay down and fall straight to sleep. Misfortune strikes nightly in that I haven't really been able to settle down and sleep. I'm sure that each night I've gotten some sleep, but not enough. Never enough.

I think I remember seeing an article online at one point about sleep-deprivation, but I'm almost totally certain that it was keyed more to how it affects the sufferer's ability to write lengthy term papers. Naturally with that, anything that I happen to remember from that article may or may not be pertinent. Although, I am pretty I remember something about it causing mood swings, but that could also be my period… Come to think of it I haven't had a period since just before that damned green explosion. With no signs to signal a coming period though, I am wishing that I had learned more about my body when I'd had the chance.

I huge yawn escapes my mouth as I take a lopsided step forward. I try to blink away the brief tiredness, this is not the time to sleep this is the time to be uppity and ready for action.

Fenris passes me some of the jerky that we had traded a dead deer for. I chew on the jerky trying to shake the lingering tiredness. Last night had been especially bad for sleep, usually I can dismiss the tiredness for the day and ignore it. Today, however, the yawns and tired tears are very persistent. What I wouldn't give for an energy drink.

After we eat today, I find that the ground is practically calling me for an afternoon nap. The grass looking especially welcoming. But, alas, Fenris stands and puts the pack back over his shoulder adjusting it until he can easily access his huge sword. I follow suit by standing and put my own pack across my front ensuring that I can easily access the sword on my left hip as well as the sword angled to my left on my back.

We silently head back to the road. Before too long we are in our regular travel arrangement, with Fenris slightly in front and to my left. I try to keep focused on the road like he always tells me to but the haze of sleepiness lingers at the fringes of my mind making it hard to really focus on anything at all. Especially a near empty dirt road, with the occasional group of stones. Which are, according to Fenris, remnants from when this had been Tevinter's Imperial Highway when the northern superpower had been in control of this entire area.

I try to watch the mountains to our left, the sight of them easily compares to the Canadian Rockies, with peaks reaching into the sky that are covered with snow at the heights. Every time the sight comes into view past the dense forest around us I find myself captivated by the beauty of the crisp, clean looking snow that caps the mountain range.

"The are called the Frostback Mountains." Somehow that name is all too suiting seeing as they are all covered with snow. I could see them from where I was with the Isenathavhen clan as well as when I was in Highever, but I had never even thought to ask the name for fear of seeming too strange. I look up at the white hair on the back of his head. I know that he doesn't exactly believe everything that I've told him about my past, but I wonder what he suspects or guesses is the truth… I mean, it can't be close to the actual truth, but he must have ideas of what my origin is.

I turn my gaze to the sky, watching the lazy, puffy clouds that float overhead, "If I may…" Fenris starts, but pauses as if waiting for permission to continue, I look at him and he continues, "Where exactly are you from?" Oh boy… Was he reading my mind or something? "The way you speak is different from anywhere else I have been before."

I look at the ground, how do I even respond to that? I mean I know that he isn't dumb and I should have realized that he would have noticed something like my speech, everyone I have heard speaking so far has an accent that at least seems to be some kind of European accent of English.

"Ahh... I…" I don't know how to answer. I don't want to lie, but at the same time, how could he possibly believe me? I look up to see him stopping in front of me, looking at me dead in the eyes. His green eyes boring holes into my own as I search for my answer. "Honestly…" I pause and try to keep his stare for a moment longer, "I am not sure that I'm ready to talk about home yet," seeing as just thought still sends pangs of pain and reminders of Arry. "Not to mention that I don't think you would believe me if I told you."

I guess he could tell that I wasn't lying to him, that what I said about him being unlikely to believe me was the truth. Although, I could also see in his face that this would not be the end of the question even if he lets it go this time.

"For now…" Although this time when we continue walking he settles to walk more beside me than in front of me.

After another few hours of walking, with the sun now beginning to make its way to the horizon ahead of us, we are coming into a village. This village looks as though it is well accustomed to having the passing travellers. I can see a couple of taverns and inns, a fairly large stable, and a smattering of market stalls. Among which I can see a baker's stand, a sort of hunter's stand and a little further down the road I can see a blacksmith's shop with a stall facing the road. There are crowds of people around the stalls and the sounds of people chattering fill my ears.

My steps slow as I wonder if we will be staying here for the night. It would be near luxurious to sleep in an inn… I realize, in the moment it took me to think that, that I have lost track of Fenris, my heart skips a beat before I feel the brush of the cold metal of his armor against the back of my neck as he pulls my hood over my head.

"Look down." He harshly whispers to me, I resist the urge to ask why and simply look to my feet as he resumes his position slightly in front of me. I notice him pick up the pace slightly, unless someone were really paying attention it wouldn't have been noticeable at all.

Keeping my eyes on the ground in front of me, I listen very closely as we walk the rest of the way through the town. So much for having a bed tonight… I wistfully sigh as we pass the last of the buildings leading out of the small pitstop village.

After another hour of walking along the road, Fenris moves to the edge of the road and examines the area leading into the dense forest. I look up at him and step close to where he is, not really sure what he is thinking right now. We only just started to have the occasional idle chat along the road, but this silence is more tense than other stretch of travel to this point.

"Only step where I step." He takes a step forward, I look very closely to where before he adds, "And try not to break branches or disturb the brush." With that I look behind us, is someone following us? Except, down the road all I see is the empty road. He takes a step off the road and into the trees. The last time I was lead into the forest it did not end well. My heart pounds, Fenris has done everything he can to earn my trust and has yet to lead me wrong, but there is a shadow in my heart that whispers fear into my mind. Can I really trust him?

I take a deep breath before stepping onto the same place that Fenris had used to enter the forest; my hand rests on the hilt of my sword ready to fight at a pin drop. Well, maybe not as much as he is but as ready as I can be.

We carefully tread through the thickening trees Fenris leading the way step by step. Not disturbing the brush is becoming very difficult. We come to an incline that is entirely stone. He comes to a stop at the edge of the stone, "Hey… Can you tell me what's going on now? I mean we have never been this careful to find a camping spot before. What's wrong?"

He looks back at me, no… He looks past me, "Not yet." He looks the rocky incline side to side, "We need to keep going a little further." Then against all of my hopes, he begins to walk up the rocky slant. Oh, good. Another sigh escapes me. "Here you should not need to worry about following my steps exactly." Well… I guess there is that… Not having to worry about the whole step-where-I-step thing will at least make this easier on my groggy mind. As soon as I begin the trek upward I find that I need to use my hands for balance on the way up, removing he security that keeping my hand on my sword had offered up to this point.

I look at the sky, causing my hood to fall off of my head, the sun is nearly at the horizon now. I wonder where he is trying to get to right now… I look up to see that he is already pretty far ahead of me. Ugh… How can he be energetic still? I narrow my eyes at his tattoos… They must be the culprit.

By the time we get to the top, I can really feel it in my lungs and legs. The burning reminds me of what a nice leisurely and easy life I used to live. Boy, would I love to go back to that right now. I wouldn't have to be trudging through the not exactly warm forest… I could go take a long, hot bath. I could eat whenever I want and not have to worry about slavers and shit.

I look back, the hill looks a lot steeper from this angle than it did from the bottom. Although, I will admit that I feel less winded than I would have, had I tried that before this whole fiasco.

I look at what we seem to have found. Which Fenris is already examining. The area up here is small and doesn't appear to lead anywhere, so I hope that he found what he was looking for. The space starts where we clambered up from the rocky slope and ends with a rock wall that I couldn't be paid to climb. There is however, something of an overhang of rocks that would be great cover from the elements, which Fenris is checking over right now. Oh man… Please don't… Yup. He just unloaded the packs he was carrying onto the stone floor of this micro-cave. I look around, there are no trees here for firewood, what are we going to burn? I peer down the slope at the forest below and step under the rock overhang to join him.

"So… We are stopping here for the night…?" I let the question lead off to imply I want some answers to why we have deviated from the usual routine.

"Yes. Here will do, especially with the unobstructed view of the forest below." At that I unload my pack onto the stone at my feet. Although the answers seem to stop there.

"Alright… So, should I go grab us some wood for the fire?" I kind of prod the question as he walks past me to crouch at the edge of the rocky hill.

"No. We will not be having a fire tonight." What? He just said no fire… So, what? We huddle for heat? I watch him scan the edges of the forest.

"Why not? What is going on? Why did we have to come so far off the road?" My statement is a little more steeped with my irritation than I had intended and I hope that he doesn't get offended about it. He stops and turns to face me standing slowly, I worry that I have made a mistake and gone too far, but he answers me none-the-less.

"I had intended for us to spend the night in that town." He turns back to the darkening forest, as the suns sinks further removing its light from the forest. I can already feel a nip in the air. "When we got into town everything seemed fine, until I saw a group of men exiting one of the taverns." He looks to me for a moment before returning to scanning the edges of the forest. "They saw you and their eyes lingered too long. I was about to disregard it when one of them pulled a sheet of paper out of his pack." So… A piece of paper deprived me of my night in a bed. Now I get to enjoy a subpar, chilly night on a mountainside. Great.

"What was on the paper? Why did it mean we had to leave?" This time his eyes do not leave the forest's edge.

"They looked like bounty hunters. I think that the slavers may have put a bounty on one or both of us." Bounty hunters? Those fucking slavers, I am just so sick of this shit following me around like a nauseating smell. "They are unlikely to follow us up here and so long as we do not light a fire we should be able to lose their trail overnight."

"Wait… Have they been following us this whole time?" This also explains why he put my hood up in that town.

"They followed us for a long time, yes." Shit. When will those slaver jackasses give up? Although, honestly, I'm not sure that they really need a poster for my description, because apparently, they had pegged me in Highever pretty easily. A flash of that awful Orlesian noble guy passes through my mind. I wonder if it wouldn't have solved my problems to go with him. Hah! As if… If anything, he would have multiplied my problems. "Tonight, I will take the first watch. You could set up your bedroll now if you want. By the time your turn comes around they should have given up looking for us. Hopefully."

* * *

I feel a jostling on my shoulder, and pull myself out of the sticky half-sleep that I feel like I just achieved.

"Gaelea…" Another jostle.

"Uh… Yeah…" I scrunch my eyes shut and sit up slowly, "I'm up, I'm up…"

"Good, I haven't seen them beating around the forest for a couple of hours now. Your watch should be uneventful, so long as you stay quite and don't light any fire." A chill settles in the air around me and a shiver makes its way up my spine. Aw, crud.

I stand up next to Fenris and hobble over to the ledge of the rocky hill. The sky still full of stars that light the tops of the trees and the snowcaps of the Frostback Mountains. I hear the shuffling behind me and turn to see Fenris settling into his own bedroll. I turn back to look at the forest and shake my head trying to shake away the lingering sleepiness.

My eyes rake over the forest, watching for the slightest sign of movement but nothing happens.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

For the ensuing hours absolutely nothing happens, I see nothing, I hear nothing and all I feel is cold. A small comment from Fen'Harel, last time we had trained in the Fade, had gotten me to work a bit on the fine motor skills of my magic and I manage to work out a way to make a thin layer of fire magic over my hands. I even manage to make it so that the magic does give off nearly any light at all.

Not that fiddling with my magic made the hours pass quickly. Although, unlike with the past few nights, the sky lightening to my left brings a sense of relief. Finally, the night is almost over.

Once the sun's light began to touch the tops of the mountains, it isn't long before the reflection lights up our little rocky ledge. I turn to look at Fenris who is still legitimately sleeping, like he has been almost since his head hit his pillow. I don't know how deep of a sleep he is having but it is clear by that that he at least trusts me enough to sleep when we're in the middle of the forest alone. I think about how me not really trusting him has affected my sleeping since we left the others in Jader. Maybe… Maybe, I should give him a chance.

Again, the hole in my heart aches. The hole created by Arry's death and absence. The hole being stretched wider by the awful shadows of this world. I want to trust him, I really do… But l guess that Sorcha's actions and their consequences are affecting me to a higher degree than I thought.

You know, I once thought that the epitome of boredom was a twelve-hour flight over the Pacific. But that is a cake-walk compared to this, with the flight including the spacious, gloriously cushioned seats, two in-flight meals, not to mention the variety of snacks that are made. Although those planes are nothing like the private jet my family owned… Owns…

That brings me to the thought that somewhere my family is continuing. Without me.

I lay back in the cavern and turn my head to face the sky just past the roof of the cavern. At least when I was far from home before, I could look at the sky or moon and know that they are at home waiting for me. But now… This sky is…

Fenris stirs and then sits up, with less time between the two than the times when I look at the clock and realize I am about to be late to work. The real difference being that he does it smoothly, without any jerkiness that would be found with my version.

He tidies and rolls his bedroll; I follow suit and fasten it back onto my leather pack.

"We will leave once we are finished cleaning up." He speaks softly, probably to ensure that we are not overheard… Not that I think anyone could have found us let alone is listening. I continue to ready myself, strapping on my swords slipping my pack onto my back. "Until I am certain that the bounty hunters have moved on. We will partially retrace our steps by going South but then we will break off to go West before going back to the road."

* * *

I huff slightly as we near the top of a rise in the forest. The small path hardly large enough for a small deer, making it very difficult to keep my footing. Yet the ever graceful, deer-like Fenris simply canters along as if we were on a full-sized, paved road. I feel the dirt beneath my foot give a little and I reach for a nearby tree to make sure that I don't, yet again, make a fool of myself. I press my foot further into the ground and take the next step onto a nice, solid rock.

It has been a few hours since we left the rocky alcove. We have been mostly silent, only speaking in soft voices when we must.

Although… I feel some gratification once I look up to see a stunning view as the forest disappears to a sheer drop in front of us. That view, a picturesque combination of rolling hills, fields of grass and farms, and in the distance to the south-west on our right, a magnificent palace. My jaw must have dropped because Fenris pipes up, "That is the Winter Palace at Halamshiral, it belongs to the Empress of Orlais… Or whoever ends up ruling after they are finished with their pointless and bloody feud." He scoffs as he turns to survey the land below us. Somehow, I feel like he doesn't approve of whatever is happening in Orlais…

I imagine the map of Thedas, with the section to the left of the map reading Orlais. I don't know the details of what he is referring to though… He made it sound as if there is a struggle for the throne right now, and that this struggle for the throne isn't exactly a peaceable one.

"So… There is a civil war or something here?" I look to him with my question, he doesn't turn around to look at me as he has before.

"Yes, there is more than enough unrest. The fate of the empire is between two parties right now." It seems like he is going into something of a lesson, which is appreciated, "There is the current titled Empress, Celene and her cousin Gaspard de Chalons who is fighting to take the throne which he believes is his." He pauses for a moment and turns to face me, "Although, their whole war is wreaking unnecessary havoc upon their empire. Hundreds have already died fighting their war." He shakes his head, I guess meaningless loss of life in such a way is refuted by some people in any war.

Letting that settle in my mind, I rake my eyes over the splendid scene before me. The crystal blue sky with the smattering of lazy puffy clouds which with the half-way-up-the-sky sun is creating shadows through the air. I can even see some of the bricks of the winding section of highway between sections of the forest and where the forest begins to give way to the grassy hills. My eyes wander to the horizon to the west and the south. My heart sinks a little, this place is so huge. How can I find something so specific as a magic that can get me home? The phrase "a needle in a haystack" never seemed to be so fitting.

I could almost feel that Fenris wanted to say something more but he just turned back to the view. I inhale deeply, "So how, per se, do you intend us to get to the road from here?" We may be able to see the road, but alas, there happens to be a sheer drop of at least a hundred feet between us and the road.

All this guy does is start walking along the side of the cliff to my left with the trees at his. Alright. I start to walk to follow, when he looks back, takes a step, and drops out of sight.

I swear I feel my eyes bugging straight out of my head as I leap the few steps to the edge of the cliff hoping that he is at least clinging for life on the edge of the overhang. I flatten myself at the edge of the precipice prepared to lift him up but sure that I really wouldn't actually be able to help. Except that… There he is. About eight feet down, not smiling but I can see the mischief in his stance as he begins to walk along a path that skirts the edge of the rock wall that is about four feet wide. I groan my heart still pounding from having watched him drop off a shear cliff but it now changing into a pounding from minor anger… I stand up evaluating the eight feet between where I am and where I need to be.

He turns to face me again and makes the 'are you coming' face at me. I look down to my feet. Alright… This is not _un_ like jumping off of the roof edge of my parents' house when I was in middle school. I was maybe fourteen years old when I did that repeatedly in my attempts to escape my life that felt like a cage at that point. Which is probably how most fourteen-year-olds feel; but that's how I dealt with it. Alright… I lower myself so that I'm sitting on the edge, feeling the sword on my back push upwards and I begin wiggling forward little by little.

Fenris' expression turns to one that shows as much confusion as I have ever seen on his face. I may have practiced a little bit on being acrobatic with the Dalish. I would always get the same praises as when I practiced with the swords or my magic. However, it is not something I have put as much effort into as learning to dual-wield my swords. Looking at the measly eight feet I regret the choice to neglect that learning, if only I had actually had the initiative to go and start learning parkour while I had been at home…

I feel the sword scrape on the ground behind me and think better of my plan. Most of the times that I was escaping my home's windows there was never anything on my back. Alright. Take two! I turn myself around and begin to lower myself with my arms. This has apparently become a test of my new strength. Luckily, I have these fairly nice leather gloves that are stopping my hands from hurting too much from the rocks.

I lower myself as far as my arms will let me and before letting myself think too much about it I release my hold on the wall hoping that the path is but inches lower than my toes. I fall for less than a second before my feet meet the rock path, leaving level with Fenris. I choose not to look at him while I take my first few steps forward. I manage not to look until I'm sure that he is focused on the path ahead, which I then do to avoid a plummet that would inevitably end with my death, but would certainly solve my needle in the haystack problem; just not in the way I would prefer.

We walk along that path for a couple of hours, until the sun is directly overhead.

There were a couple more sudden but not tall drops, which Fenris took easily, simply hoping off the precipice, leaving me to struggle down each one; with each drop bringing my desire to practice acrobatics up a notch. There were a few times where the path narrowed so much that we had to hug the rock wall while shimmying sideways. While I have no particular fear of heights I will admit the sheer drop with no kind of security against falling were certainly anxiety inducing.

I was also certainly thankful to reach at least the point where, were I to fall, death wouldn't be imminent.

Fenris startles me a little when he speaks for the first time since the top of the cliff, "The road is some distance in that direction." He pauses, I look in the direction he pointed, I wonder if he is still worried about those bounty hunters. Surely by now we would have lost them, or even them getting bored of looking for us. Nothing can be worth waiting around in a forest for days, right? A feeling in my gut said otherwise, but I choose to ignore it. "From the top there seemed to be a hill between where the path ends and the road, with some mountain bases along side of it. We are going to try to go between it and the mountain bases, then to the road." Alright, so basically more walking and then some more walking after that. In other words, a repeat of the past couple of months now. Man, and he doesn't seem to be wanting to take a break.

He begins to walk in the direction he had originally indicated. Nope. No break. I let a small sigh escape before I hike up my backpack and begin to follow him.

"Fenris, are the bounty hunters still following us?" I try to coax an answer out as he treads forward in front of me.

"It is hard to say. I suspect that they are still nearby. If they are still pursuing us then we may have to avoid the road for longer."

We trudge through the forest, he didn't say anything about it but I am fairly careful to avoid disturbing many bushes or plants. Perhaps if I try this for a while we can keep them from finding us. Although, the path we take doesn't seem as straightforward as he made it sound. Occasionally we even turn off of the path despite that it continues straight. I look up once in a while to keep track of which directions to take next, but as the paths we take get more difficult to walk I mostly I keep my eyes on my footing, not trusting myself to be able to walk well while watching him.

After a while longer, he picks up the pace again. We are now at a brisk canter through the uneven forest paths. Once I get used to the pace, it crosses my mind to try practicing the trick to enhance my hearing with my magic while we make our way to the road, so I begin to channel my magic to my ears to hear better. It works almost immediately.

Suddenly it comes to my attention that the sounds of whispers are behind us. And to our left. Or right. In that moment, it becomes clear that Fenris is trying to direct us away from them, guiding us into each quiet spot with every turn he chooses.

But… What if they catch us anyway? What if I lose Fenris? What if…? The feeling of the metal shackles around my wrists stirs fear inside me.

As fear settles in, I feel the forest closing in around us. The branches grabbing. The bushes snagging; trying to slow us down. I look up and watch as the space between Fenris and I expands and warps. The light flashes funny in my eyes for a second and I swear I feel a rope close around my throat as I find my feet being held in place by the roots of the trees. Paralyzed by the fear enclosing me.

My vision blurs, making shadows in the trees. I screw my eyes shut. Fenris? Where did you go?

I feel something shake my shoulder, "Gaelea." The voice is garbled and hard to hear; as if I am underwater. Arry? "Gaelea!" No. I pull my eyes open, it's Fenris. "We have to move. Now."

But how can I move with the roots that… I look around to see that there are no roots holding my feet, no bushes snagging my clothes and back pack, and no tree branches hanging low enough to grab at me. Hallucinations? None of it was real? I feel tears sting my eyes. Fear had caused me to hallucinate. Fear of being taken again. I cannot let that happen.

Fenris puts his face in front of mine. "Now." His voice is forceful, but I can tell by his face that he just wants to help. I take a deep breath and but one tear escapes my eyes before I nod at him.

He turns and starts walking, I follow. Then he begins to move faster, without worrying I match his pace. We lost time because of my fear of being caught. I can't let that happen again. If we get caught it won't be because I lost my mind to fear. I focus my hearing with my magic again, so that I can better follow Fenris by trying to understand where he might try to go.

We are moving along at a pace that I won't be able to keep for long but I have to try. The people in the trees are no longer trying to be quiet though. I can hear them shouting at each other, I try to keep as close to Fenris as I can but longer we go the harder it gets. I hear the sound of thunder rumble through the trees as the sky slowly begins to darken.

Fenris veers to the right. I make the movement to follow, my gaze falling to the ground to make sure I don't lose footing at such a valuable moment.

Seconds apart I see a tree branch get put right in my path too close for me to adjust and I hit it level with my collar bone. I see the forest get turned right before my impact to the ground knocks the breath right out of me, and causes black spots to bloom across my vision.

* * *

 **Again thank you for reading! I would love to hear any feedback you have for me! Whether to comment on the story or as a critique of my writing. Thanks!**


	15. Selfish Bounty Hunters

**Welcome back everyone! Thanks again for continuing with my story! I hope that you all enjoy this chapter. As always I love to hear from anyone who has something to say.**

* * *

Spots dance across my vision as I feel the air getting forced out of my lungs from the impact of my back with the ground. I can't hear wheezing past the ringing in my ears from the harsh impact. This kind of me-to-ground impact hasn't happened since falling from the monkey bars when I was still in grade school.

I start to turn myself over to get ready for a fight, because if Fenris had thought that running was the only way away then they were closer to me than I had time to get running again.

As I make to stand up a shadow passes the ground in front of me and for a split-second I think that Fenris has come back around already. That is until, what is very clearly, a foot flies into my right side and launches my disoriented self back to the ground.

Shit.

I try to focus past the ringing and the spots, trying to use what I can of my magic, to try and tell where they may come at me next as I try to stand again. The left? I try to move but I figured it out too late, as something, that is very clearly not a foot, actually sends me flying into a tree nearby. What on… (Thedas?) was that? It didn't seem to have a point of impact, it felt like pure force slamming into my side. It felt like… magic. There is a mage with them.

My vision is coming back to me, but I manage to feel the next magic attack coming and I raise a barrier against it, my hands pulsing with the magic that pours from inside me. The amulet under my shirt growing slightly warm. I redirect the blast to the ground in front of me and with what I have regained of my vision I can tell that there is a sufficient explosion of dirt and other tree debris that I use to make my escape.

I fling myself around the trunk of the tree behind me and use it to kick off running. I don't know which direction Fenris went but I don't have the luxury of slowing down to figure it out. The exhaustion begins to creep around the sides of my mind, the adrenaline keeping it at bay.

A blinding flash fills the forest followed immediately by a sharp crack of thunder that shakes the air. Well… The ringing in my ears _had_ almost stopped, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I try to keep low as I run through the trees, knowing that we are not at a low altitude and that the fact that my hairs standing on end might not be from nerves.

I'm still running when the ringing in my ears finally ceases, the deep rumbles from the sky making it hard to tell exactly where the people are coming after me from. My lungs are starting to burn and my legs are only moving thanks to the adrenaline pumping through my system. Although, I can see a patch of the forest that appears lighter than the rest to my right; I look from side to side before using a small tree to help me make a sudden direction change. There is no path here, so I have to maneuver around fallen tree branches. I might be able to lose them through here; though that may mean that Fenris will have a challenging time finding me.

The light ahead of me is getting brighter, I leap over a fallen log to find myself something of a clear valley between two steep inclines. I ran to the edges of the mountain bases and look at possibilities for escape. To no avail. Whelp, that is unfortunate… I mean if I could fly I could certainly escape. Another misfortune, I do not possess the ability to sprout wings like Flemeth.

I turn myself to begin a race out the side of the valley but a deep chuckle draws my attention to the area behind me instead.

"You have certainly been more than enough trouble already," I drop my bag on the ground right there and snatch the hilts of my two swords, before he can even finish his statement. I whip around to face the man emerging from the forest full on; putting the two inclines behind me and using my foot to send my pack into a pile of rocks. _Oh, he has no idea._ "Woah now…" He smiles wickedly, "Let's not get hasty and start something you don't even have a chance of winning." He whistles sharply into the forest and slowly people begin to come into view from the shadows of the trees. Thunder grumbles above us.

The people, who I would assume to be his band of bounty hunters or mercenaries, are all armed with a healthy variety of weapons. Scanning the line of the trees from my right to my left reveals people with swords, daggers, greatswords, and even a few with staves alight with readied magic. They also have an assortment of different armors, plate, studded, even some with simple leather pieces like me. I count twelve people in total. This would be the most I have fought completely alone, but I have also improved greatly. Not only that, but now I am capable of using my magic with more precision. Although, something I haven't tried yet is using magic at the same time as fighting with swords… In my mind, it works out because I have never used a staff before so I should just be able to channel the magic through my hands just like I normally do. God, I hope that this works; it may be my only chance to win in a fight against so many. I test it by trying to bring lightning magic to my hands, but only enough that I could feel it and see a slight spark as it travels into my sword.

Another chuckle brings my attention to the man at the center of this group, his skin is tanned and he has deep brown hair, but I can't see his eyes clearly from this distance. He has a sword at his side, it looks broader than my own swords but he hasn't drawn it yet.

"Now, now… There are really two ways this can go." He smiles as if he were about to offer the world to me, "You can either give up now and let us take you to collect the absurd bounty on your head. Or, and I would really rather not this option, you can _try_ to fight us, fail and be overwhelmed." He shifts his weight to be leaning slightly to his left, his underlings slowly advancing towards me. I prepare to fight, refusing the former option, and to use every skill at my disposal, to prevent the latter option. I feel the energy crackling at my hands as a flash of what happened last time I used lightning magic while fighting a larger group.

The image of the twisted bodies of the bandits… The stench of their burnt flesh…

The snapping of a twig by a person with a greatsword at my right, spurs me into action as I launch to my left bearing down upon a woman wielding twin daggers. I send the lightning into my sword bringing it to life with sparking and crackling energy. The sword emits a low hum as I push it down onto the cross of her two daggers that she brought up to block. God, I hope this works right. The contact of our weapons causes a piercing electrical snap sound as the woman is blown away from the electrical discharge of my weapon though her own.

Woah… Okay, it worked better than I had imagined. The area is silent for a moment as everyone takes in what just happened, looking from me to the woman laying on the ground unconscious about five meters away from me.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL STANDING AROUND FOR?! GET HER NOW!" Apparently, the leader guy had gotten impatient, and when no one immediately was spurred into action he began to charge at me drawing his greatsword from its sheathe on his back.

A couple of the people near me also charge at me, but at this point most of the group only stares at the sparks that occasionally jump off my swords. Two reach me at the same time and I have to dance around the swords and attempts at shield bashing. I raise my sword against one of swords coming down towards me. Another electric crack as he gets shocked by my swords. I go to dodge around the shield bashing coming from behind me when pain blossoms across my side. This person had put their sword close to their shield and as I dodge the shield their sword grazes my side. I cleave my sword through the air and it makes contact with their shield and a shower of sparks sprays as I force his shield to the ground. I can see that they are ridged from the electricity and when I pull my sword away, they go limp.

I hear the heavy pounding of his feet as I turn to face the now almost at me leader. His eyes are a crystal-clear grey, just like Arry's, only these eyes are filled with rage. He heaves his greatsword in an attack, practically sloppy compared to Fenris' smooth and flawless movements. I bring my swords upward in sequence left and then right; left to block or redirect the attack and right intending to graze in front of his face, for shock factor with the intention of having him leave me alone. My left sword makes contact with his and he actually loses grip on it and it goes flying out of his hands. I had swung my right sword in anticipation that he would be flung back slightly by the electricity in my left sword, ending with the sword near his face but not in contact with it. Since the electricity in my left sword did not have that effect, the tip of my right sword actually grazes up the left side of his face.

"ARGH!" His hands fly to the injury on his face and he swings himself to my right landing on his knees. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, YOU WHORE!" He bellows as he waves his right arm at the people running towards him, "NO! GET HER! NOW!" I ready my swords again and back up as five of the nine left begin to charge at me, while one of the mages rush to their leader's side.

One of the dagger wielding mercenaries disappears in a flash of smoke, how did they do that? I put my hearing on over drive, they couldn't have teleported, but I did learn of this kind of skill when I was with the Dalish.

The other four all get to me with one of them coming at me with their shield up before bringing their sword up and down at me. I bring my sword up and deflect his blow towards one of the others around me who throws up their two daggers just in time to block the incoming sword. In the end, they land on top of each other momentarily paralyzed by the electricity.

I whip around, blocking a sword coming at me from the right and bringing my left sword up and across their chest; the electricity sends them back a couple of feet.

I start to turn around to my right to find a muscular man surging forward swinging his down his battle axe at me. It takes both of my swords crossed in front of me to stop the heavy weapon from reaching my head. I send an extra surge of lightning magic through my swords which causes the man muscled man to go rigid and then limp as I push his axe away.

As the electricity discharges, I can feel something behind me and hear the ringing sound of daggers. I shift my weight to face the rogue behind me but too slowly. I hear the sound before I feel the wounds being drawn across my back. A flash of anger turns the lightning on my blades into a blaze of flames as I turn into a spin, tearing my swords through the rogue. Twice with the right and once with the left. The rogue falls to the ground with the momentum from my spin, landing dead with his brown eyes facing opposite of his body; looking but no longer seeing.

I turn back to face the leader, only to see him, the mage who had rush over to him, and one sword and shield wielder disappear into the forest. I can see the other people in the group starting to stir and groan. I rotate a little further to see a man wielding a huge war hammer crumple to the ground revealing a man with white hair and tattoos that are glowing blue.

Fenris.

He looks up from the body of the man he dispatched and meets my eyes. I drop my swords, and fall to my knees with exhaustion. All of the sleepless nights and the adrenaline ebbing away comes crashing onto me all at once. I fall backwards into a sitting position and suddenly the pain radiating from my back becomes crystal clear. I remember the rogue who had appeared behind me and slashed me on the back, but I don't know how many slashes he got in before I… All I have to do is look over to see exactly what I did.

Fenris walks over to me, replacing the sword to its place on his back. My head bobs forward a couple of times while he is walking forward, but maybe I deserve this… My eyes wander to where the scorched corpse of the rogue, I happen to have sat down exactly where his unseeing eyes are looking.

My eyes turn back to Fenris, but suddenly there are three… Wow… I didn't know there was magic like that… Oh wait… Two… Nope, he as he gets closer there is in fact only one Fenris. He kneels down in front of me. I try to look him in the eye, but all that happens is my vision going black.

* * *

"Gaelea…" _Uh…. Who's there? Arry? Mom? I guess it could be mom… This was my trip to see them…_ "Gaelea." _Hmm… No… That's a man's voice, but I know it… I know I know it…_

 _Wait… I never made it to visit my parents… What happened?_ A memory of a green explosion fills my dream.

My eyes fly open and I shoot straight up. Pain flares across my back and I fall back onto the bed beneath me. Now that I remember everything that had happened and am shaking the deep sleep off, I find it unusual that I am laying in a bed… I look around, the room is small, and there are two skinny beds including my own. I can't see much beyond that though.

What do I remember last? There was… The bounty hunters… I managed to fight them off. Fenris arrived on the scene… Everything after that is extremely hazy, a deep fog covers anything that might have happened.

But the room is empty. Light lazily flows through cracks in the ceiling and where I would assume a window is and I think I hear someone calling me… But there isn't anyone here to call me.

I close my eyes again, I'm so tired still. I relax and let my breathing slow to take me back to sleep. I close my eyes and begin to dream.

"Gaelea." I open my eye to see the familiar look of the wolf mask with too many eyes.

"Fen'Harel…" Oh… It was him calling me. "Did you bring me into the Fade?" He backs up a little when I stand up and look around, again around me is the familiar forest where we always practice magic.

"Yes." He takes his usual position of standing up straight with his hands clasped behind his back. "It has been some time since we were supposed to meet." Oh… I suppose I don't know how long it has been since the fight with the bounty hunters. "I was alarmed when you weren't responding at first, but then I could feel that you were near the Fade. I simply pulled you the rest of the way."

"Yeah, Fenris and I had a run in with some bounty hunters… I think we took care of them though…" I kind of look at my hands, remembering what I did to escape capture. I even killed someone out of anger. I suppose the anger was born out of being attacked first but still… That rogue is dead now. For all I know he was just a desperate man trying to provide for a family, who was recruited with the promise of a cut of a huge bounty. "I am not in a cage or otherwise restrained, so I think that Fenris brought me somewhere."

"I am relieved to hear that. I admit that you get into more trouble than anyone I have ever known." Har dee har har… Very funny.

I look at Fen'Harel with the 'Thank you, Captain Obvious' face I can muster, "Gee… Thanks… I think." The tiredness scratches my still awake mind, "I think I will leave now though… I am still very exhausted and need to actually sleep." I look at Fen'Harel, "And thanks… For worrying." He might be the one person who seems to genuinely care.

He looks down, "Indeed," He turns up to face me again, surely looking at me through one of the sets of eyes on the mask, "Especially since we can be certain you will find more trouble before we next meet."

I leave the Fade and my eyes open in the small bedroom again. Maybe I should see how he reacts to being called Fen… Or Harry perhaps…

"You are awake." I look over to see Fenris coming in the door to the small room, he steps over next to the other bed. I start to sit up, but within the next instant that white-haired elf is holding my shoulder down, "If you sit up you may open the slashes from that rogue's daggers on your back." I exhale in irritation. Bedridden. Again. By wounds on my back. Great.

I look around the room, "Where exactly are we? And…" Remembering, or rather not remembering, coming here. "How did we get here?" He continues to hold my shoulder there, perhaps sensing that I still wish to attempt sitting up.

"We are in an abandoned farm house." Oh… That would explain the size, all the farm homes I've seen since coming here have been small at their largest and tiny on average. Although, he doesn't continue to answer my second question, he only persists in holding me down. He isn't holding me down harshly, but with enough strength that my currently feeble and tired body. I let my head fall against the slight pillow and he relinquishes my shoulder.

He sits down on the other bed, "And… I carried you here." Well, I mean… I guess there isn't really any other way he could've gotten us both here. But…

I spring up straight out of the bed, pain sears across my back and all Fenris does is make a face that I can only describe as the 'Don't do that, you idiot!' face.

"If I have to close up those wounds because of that…" He doesn't finish the statement, I think that might be because he feels that perhaps the pain was repercussion enough. He stands up and takes the couple of steps over to me and looks at my back before sitting back down on his bed. Now not worried seeing as the deed was done.

"What about the bounty hunters? I think I remember the leader leaving… But everything is hazy… I'm not sure what all I remember is real." I'm pretty sure I remember something about using my magic through the swords, but that can't be right.

"Yes. The leader was already running when I came into the field. That is when you fainted, of blood loss I imagine." And plain old exhaustion I'm sure played a part. Wait… I think I remember something about there being three Fenrises… Now that certainly isn't real. One of him is more than enough.

"Fenris…" I frown at the wall in front of me and I bring my hands over my face ignoring the twinges of pain from using the muscles in my back, "I remember using my magic through my swords… Is that even possible?" I look to my left at him.

He looks at me, his expression at an unreadable point somewhere between disbelieving and pity almost. He stands and walks to the table where I can see our things lain out. He shifts some fabrics and picks up two blackened lengths, my stomach sinks a little at the sight. He brings them over and places them on my lap.

I run my hand over the rough black surface of what used to be the sword that Himsulem gifted me. The two swords are charred and rough. As I touch the edge of the now dull blades they crumble, leaving black powder on the blankets.

"What…?" I examine the hilts, guards, and grips on the swords; all charred and ruined. "Did I do this?"

I look over to Fenris, he brings his eyes up from the floor to meet mine. He doesn't even have to say anything, the expression on his face is answer enough. My gaze settles back on the ruined swords. I recall the way the power felt following into my swords. I lightly drag my fingers over the surface of the blades; apparently this is not a method that I should use often. This could get very expensive; not to mention that I now don't have any weapons other than my magic. That thought fills me with a feeling that I had hoped I wouldn't have to deal with again. The hopeless feeling of being unable to fight back, unable to protect myself, and unable to survive. The unmistakeable hole inside me, the hole I had thought to be shrinking; pulses, threatening to pull me in.

As if sense the darkness settling inside of me, Fenris breaks the silence and hence my dark reverie. "Luckily, those bounty hunters seemed to be the type that keep news of a bounty to themselves. We likely will not come across them for a while, seeing as they will likely be licking their wounds for some time now." I could hear that he was trying to distract me from what the ruined swords mean.

Although, it does seem to be working, because now I just want to know what he means. "Uh… What exactly do you mean by keeping news on a bounty to 'themselves?'" I face him again, I can see his expression soften just a little bit; maybe even with the barest hint of a smile.

"There are some bounty hunters that when they find a large bounty they make it so that word doesn't travel as it usually would, so that they can acquire the target with minimal competition." Oh… I'm not sure whether to be grateful or worried. Especially since I'm pretty sure it was the leader guy who got away with a mage… "But as I said before, I imagine that whoever remained after all that, will be licking their wounds for some time now."

Jeez… The things that exist in the place… Selfish bounty hunters… Maybe I should start a list. Naturally, dragons and dragon-ladies will be at the top of the list; followed closely by the contents I added earlier on, being magic, savage slavers and elves. I will have to find paper and a pencil… Or something like a pencil…

I look up again to see his expression has softened further, only to toughen again once he sees me look back up. It makes me feel a little better knowing that he at least seems to care enough to make an effort to cheer me up… Even while he is concerned about my power I'm sure. I'm concerned about my power. Once again, my gaze moves between my hands and my swords before I grasp the stormheart pendant that is meant to keep my power in check. I screw my eyes shut, maybe in the hope that when I open them I'll wake up in my bed at home. Alas, once again when I open my eyes, I remain in this world. In the small room that I really don't know with Fenris sitting across from me.

"So…" I glance around the room, for dramatic effect, "Where exactly are we now?" I settle my eyes on him, making an expectant expression.

"This is just an abandoned farm house some distance north of Halamshiral." I desperately try to recall that name and its position on the map… Regrettably, no such recollection occurs. And Fenris seems to notice as he continues with, "Halamshiral is an ancient elvhen capital that has been repurposed as the location of the Empress' Winter Palace. Naturally, there is a city there as well, but the palace is the hallmark of the area." He pauses for a moment, letting all that sink in. And I recall a grand palace– "We did see it from the top of the cliff some days ago now." Right. That.

Well, I guess that means we didn't get too far off of the originally planned path.

"So how many days has it been this time?" I had gotten used to uncontrollably losing time to unconsciousness since those first days when Arry had been tending my leg. Now, rather than 'Did I lose time?' the question is 'How much time did I lose?'

"The whole business with the bounty hunters was but three days ago." He pauses briefly, "We have been here for two days, and we should probably not stay for a third. I believe our presence is becoming known to those who live nearby. I would rather not have anyone approach us here." Ah… Well that _does_ make sense. But I suppose three days isn't really so bad. Although, at the prospect of leaving immediately the exhaustion scratches at the back of my mind again.

Which, as per usual, doesn't escape Fenris' notice, "We can rest here for the rest of the day, but I would like to be leaving here just after sundown." Ah… Good. At least I can get a little actual rest.

"Alright… That seems fair…" I pick up the swords from beside me. It surprises me to notice that they still have the same weight to them despite their condition. I guess, there is still the same amount of material, but they became frail and weak so I guess my mind figured that they would feel like less as well. I lay the two swords on the ground and ignoring the charred remains they leave on the bed I lay down.

I turn onto my side facing away from Fenris and almost immediately fall into a deep sleep. A sleep deeper than I had had since I left the Dalish camp.

Which only felt cut short when I wake to the feeling of Fenris' hand on my shoulder.

I turn over and instead of rubbing the lack of sleep from my eyes, I rub away the remnants of a good, but short sleep. I have the feeling of having had a wonderful and actually useful nap.

For a change in pace we actually get to leave a place at our own pace. No slavers closing in. No bounty hunters tracking us.

We walk for a few hours between farmers' fields, next to fences of various size and levels of repair. Easily this is the most relaxed travel time we have had for some time. Fenris, who is some steps ahead of me, doesn't even look behind us once.

Once we get to the road he surveys it briefly before hopping up the ditch and offering his hand down to me. All I do is put my hands on my hips and look up at him, before hopping up the ditch myself.

I wonder what exactly he watches for anyway…

* * *

As if we had been erased from the memories of the world, our remaining traveling to Lydes was uneventful. Which, considering the events that have transpired since my arrival, is a pleasant change of pace.

Fenris, considering that we will be parting ways soon, has begun to show me how to keep safe on the roads. A couple of the lessons being how to keep people's attention away from me and how to lose a tail if someone decides to follow me.

We come up over a rise in the road and we are greeted by the view of a city some ways in the distance. The mid-afternoon sun shining onto the rooftops. Shadows from the fluffy, lazy clouds travelling over the scene.

"That is Lydes. We will be parting ways starting there." Fenris pipes up from my left, as he angles his head down a touch, "I will be travelling south-west towards Val Firmin in search of Danarius but Val Royeaux is across the Waking Sea to the north of Lydes." We will be parting way, huh? I look to the north, I wonder what I will find there… Is it really any better than what I could find if I continue on with him?

Man! What am I thinking? I need to go to Val Royeaux. It's the only lead I've gotten relating to any way to get home. Of course, I have to go there, I must try to find some kind of way home. The only chance I have is to find some kind of remnants of the Circle, with the hope that I can find some clue on travelling between worlds.

"So… Fenris?" Turn to face him as he walks next to me to find that he is already looking at me expectantly.

"Yes?" He asks in reply.

"Uh… Well, I've been meaning to ask for a couple of days now…" I gaze at the city of Lydes. "Why have you been helping me so much?" I pause briefly, "I mean… Surely you could have made it to Danarius sooner if you hadn't been travelling with me, right?" Another quick break, but I continue before he can answer, "And it's not like I can repay you for helping at all… I don't have any left of value… I've even ruined my only weapons…"

Abruptly, the warrior places his hand firmly on my shoulder, I feel a slight twinge from the healing wounds on my back, and I stop walking to look at him.

"It started only being a favour to Ivuna and the others. They had taken me aside to ask me to help you get started. Originally, I had intended on getting you on your way to Val Royeaux earlier and leaving it at that, then going to where the letters said that Danarius would be." He walks to the side of the road, "I was even unsure at first." He turns to me, "Especially after I found out you are a mage." He said with such force that I could feel that deep seated hatred he has for magic; his words are simply steeped with the strength of the emotion he carries.

He begins to walk forward slowly, so I follow suit and fall into step next to him.

"Despite that, I found that you, unlike the majority of mages I have encountered, you never depended on your magic. In fact, you almost use it as an afterthought. As if you forget that it is there at times." That's because I know that my magic is volatile and destructive; ready to explode at any moment. "I especially realized this during our sparring match. Any mage would have used magic to at least gain the upper hand if not to win at least one round. However, you never even once tried to use magic."

We walk in silence for a few minutes, as if he were thinking of how to continue.

"The more we trained while we were with the others, the more I realized that you remind me of myself before I met… Well who they are is not important. What matters is that I realized that I would not be where I am now if not for having met that person. I realized then that I could be that person for you, or at least help you to get past where you were." I look at him after he says that, but I find that he's looking the other direction, his finger scratching lightly at his chin. "If helping you means to make you as strong as I can before we have to part ways, then so be it."

So… Fenris is relating to me? I really don't even know what to think of that… I guess it's as good a reason as any to help someone, but looking at him now I really can't imagine this warrior elf being in need of help from anyone really. Although, I guess that's the point. It's because he was helped that he is the way he is now.

And he said he wants to help me become stronger. I smile to myself as I turn away from him.

I look to the ground at my feet, the occasional cluster of cobblestone; some clusters larger than others. These clusters of stone road seem to be a hallmark of the Imperial Highway…

I let my mind trail away as a comfortable silence settles around us.

We walk for a while longer, the city slowly growing closer and the sun inches closer and closer to the horizon. At the same time, the amounts of people on the road begins to increase. To which Fenris comes up beside and hoists my hood over my head again. Maybe he doesn't realize that I can also put my hood up…

"You are certain that you need to go to Val Royeaux then?"

I give a sidelong glance, "Yeah… I have to see if there are any remnants of the Circle left. They are probably the only people who really help me." I turn back to face the road ahead. "I need their help as soon as I can get it." When he doesn't respond right away I continue, "Why ask now, Fenris?"

I hear him take a deep breath, "I am not convinced that you will be totally successful on your own. However, I must take this chance to finish off Danarius before he gets away again." He pauses, almost long enough that I am tempted to ask where he is leading this, before he finishes with, "I was wondering if perhaps you would be willing to delay your trip to Val Royeaux for that purpose. Also, it would be good to have someone I trust by my side." Oh, ouch…. That string of words was a mix of a compliment with something that sounded suspiciously like he doesn't think I'm mature enough to be on my own. I'm not sure whether I should smile, grimace, or just stare deadpan at him.

I settle with not changing where I'm looking, namely the road ahead, and say, "I'll think about it…" It's really nice to know that he trusts me like that, and I suppose I have grown to trust and depend on him. But honestly, I just want to go home. As much as I have found friendship with him recently, I truly don't belong in this world. That is only made clearer by the fact that he doesn't think that I'll be alright by myself. If even after all this time I can't be deemed worthy of travelling alone, then my only real hope is to find a way back home.

We make our way into the city; the crowds of the people would suggest that we are hitting some kind of evening rush. With vendors cleaning up their stalls, and the marketplace finishing up for the day. Fenris leads us through the crowds, after a few minutes of dodging around other people it hits me that I am having no problems avoiding the people despite the fact that the street is incredibly busy. I realize that, regardless of the fact that he believes that I am not ready to be alone, I have changed immensely from the person I was at home.

Then at the edge of my hearing I notice a word that I would not have expected. Or rather a statement, 'Je suis...' I turn abruptly to try to hone in on the rest of the sentence but lose where it came from. But then I realize that all around me the people are speaking in French. I honestly couldn't believe my ears.

"I suppose this is the first city in Orlais we have been in… I'm not surprised that you have noticed the difference in language." Right, we have been Orlais for some time, but mostly in forests and small stints of passing through small towns and settlements.

I look at the back of his head, "So… In Orlais… Everyone speaks French?"

He turns to look at me with a look of utter confusion, "The language is called Orlesian." He turns back around. Shit. Of course, it wouldn't be called French here. It's only called French because it's from France. But naturally France isn't here. Orlais is.

I try to pick out snippets of conversation as we walk along, when I notice that we seem to be getting further from the main area of the city; as the crowds seem to be becoming smaller. The light of the sun turns radiant gold overhead as it begins to set.

Following Fenris, despite being lost in thought, keeps me from becoming physically lost. Which is a huge improvement over the last time I entered a city. We walk for close to fifteen minutes before that elf pauses in front of a tavern looking building. He gives a quick look up and down before walking over to the door and we step into the building together.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I would love to hear your opinion of this chapter; be it a critique or fun comment! Thank you!**


	16. New People, New Places

**Welcome back everyone!**

 **Thank you for any comments on the last chapter! I love to hear your opinions of what is happening in the story.**

 **So naturally, I would love to hear what you think of how Sophi's story is developing. And if you haven't already, read the Arry half of the story by Lady Audentium, Warriors: Arryn Mauntelle.**

 **As always, I hope you enjoying reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

* * *

We have lingered in Lydes for slightly more than two days.

The first location we went to after securing lodging for the night was a place where someone could properly tend the slashes on my back. As it turns out, that white-haired elf is a fabulous nurse. The healer we went to was thoroughly impressed with his rather makeshift cleaning and bandaging job. The healer, who was a woman, delicately unbandaged and cleaned the slashes. She had hesitated when she first saw my back, I heard a small gasp surely in reaction to the wretched scars that were already there. After the initial reaction though, she went straight to work.

When we had left she told me that the slashes were really not that deep and should actually heal fairly quickly.

Fenris had spent all of yesterday and today at the marketplace, note that this was after he asked me to stick around the inn that we stayed at; this was mostly to keep the slashes in good condition. I did follow him to the market yesterday though, where I managed to find a blank leather-bound book, a variety of writing utensils, as well as one cheap but effective longsword. One of my new writing utensils is a pencil. Now, mind that it isn't a typical Number 2 HB pencil. Luckily, it seems to work the same.

The first thing I did with my empty book and pencil? I made a list.

First, I put dragons. Because that, despite everything else, that is the most outlandish thing I've heard of here yet. I did see Flemeth crash in as a dragon, but I don't know if that counts as having seen one really.

Speaking of… Flemeth, i.e. Dragon Lady, is next to make my list.

Next, I went with the magic. That really just explains itself. I mean there is the idea of magic at home, but it is mostly tricks and illusion. Not magic as it is here.

I found it hard to rank the rest, so I just went with writing them as they came to mind.

Savage slavers.

Elves.

Selfish bounty hunters.

Once I had written everything I currently believe needs to be on the list, I decided to draw. It had been a long time since I had drawn but after a while it came back to me.

I look out over the city from my perch on the roof of the inn. I can see the glistening of the Waking Sea in the distance, and the forests between here and there. I turn to face the direction I would assume is where Fenris is going.

What he said keeps going through my mind. Deep inside, I know it's true. I'm not ready to be travelling alone yet. But… That doesn't mean I should go to Southern Orlais with Fenris. Especially since I know his aim is to kill Danarius and that means going to where Dorian is. Even with afternoon sun warming my back, a shiver creeps up my spine. Dorian is probably the one person in existence that I never want to see again. Then there's the fact that if I do go with him and fight the slavers, there is no guarantee that I will even make out of there alive. In which case, I would certainly not make it home. Not to mention that if I don't go to Val Royeaux right away, I very well might lose my chance; especially if the Circles have been falling.

 _Okay, okay. Stop._ This metal back and forth has been going on since he made the proposition. The same arguments, the same points of importance and the same conclusions. I lean back against the brick chimney and turn my gaze to the sky. What am I going to do?

I know that where he is going there are sure to be even more slavers than the group that had me in that cage. I close my eyes as the pit of fear gapes wide inside of me and I can feel the cold manacles around my wrists, the icy bars behind my head instead of the sun warmed bricks. I open my eyes and for a moment all I see are the cold, lifeless, black eyes that belong to Dorian. I frantically blink it away, but the damage is already done, all the cruelty and sadistic actions bubble to the forefront of my mind.

I pull my legs in and wrap my arms around them to comfort myself, I'm not there anymore. I am free of his cruelty and do not need to fear his tyranny anymore.

After I calm down, I head back down into the inn's tavern on the first floor, to find that Fenris is already in the tavern. I sit down at the opposite side of the table he is at. The waitress comes over and confirms what I food and drink I want to have. I admit that I really don't know what the job title is here. Is it the same? Or perhaps barmaid? Either way she is a nice person who has an impressive memory for people's general food orders.

The tavern is as busy as it ever was, probably full of the people who would have just finished at the market. The chatter of everyone present creates the noise of indistinguishable conversation. Loud cheers from one side of the room do nothing to the rest of the chatter in the space.

Looking across the table I can see that that white-haired elf looks as broody as ever; that is until he notices me staring at him.

"Is there something wrong?" The too deep voice actually sounds almost concerned about something.

"Nope. I was just thinking about how broody you always look." The next thing I see is more emotion pass over his face than I've ever seen before. It almost looked like minor irritation, which on Fenris' face means pretty damn irritated.

"I'm not brooding." The short statement also sounds rehearsed as he says in a fairly annoyed tone.

I find the whole thing so funny that I almost find my laugh again. But in the end, all that comes of it is a nearly genuine smile. A small part of me just wants to find laughter again, to be able to laugh so hard that my stomach hurts. It's been so long since I could laugh, but I guess baby steps it is; for now, at least I can smile truly.

That is when the girl comes over with our meals, which are both the stew that the chef seems to specialize in. I remember the first evening when Fenris had mention that he believed that the chef must be from Fereldan; which the waitress confirmed. I'm not sure what lead him to believe that but I just went with the fact that he probably knows more about Thedas than I do. Although, I have noted that here the majority of food seems to settle along the French style of cooking.

I will admit that it has been difficult trying to get back what French I can remember. It has probably been six years since I spoke French with anyone after being in French Immersion all through grade school.

I wonder when Fenris is planning on leaving Lydes. I suppose if I don't plan to go with him it doesn't really matter when he leaves. Although. I suppose I should tell him that I plan to go to Val Royeaux right away.

With my meal almost entirely gone, just the thick broth left over.

"So…" I begin…

"What do—" Fenris starts at the same tie as me.

"Oh… Uh… You go first." I say to him across the table.

"If you say so." He takes a quick drink from the goblet in front of him, "What is it that you have decided in regard to travelling after Lydes?"

Ah… Getting right to the point, eh? Well, there is no reason to dodge the subject.

"Well… I think it would be best if I go straight to Val Royeaux from here." I look at the almost empty bowl in front of me, "I don't want to miss my chance to find whatever I can from what's left of the Circles." I'm certain that he can tell I am omitting at least a little information in my statement, but it doesn't seem to bother him.

"If it is that important, I won't stop you." Conversely, I can tell that he is withholding something he wants to say, but I let it go. It wouldn't be fair to hold back what I want to say only to ask him to say everything.

I look at his sage eyes, "Thank you for everything, Fenris."

By the way his face looks I caught him off guard with that, "You are welcome…"

I look down at my bowl briefly before asking, "So where exactly are you going to go?"

He clears his throat, looks around quickly and then to me, "This afternoon I… Inquired around the city regarding the matter of Danarius and any other slavers." He takes another drink from the goblet, "I managed to find news of a band of slavers working somewhere between Montsimmard and Val Firmin. I have learned that they have been working primarily along the Imperial Highway but disappearing into the forests at night." Ugh… Yeah, that sounds like a bunch of slavers. Nabbing unsuspecting victims off the road by day and hiding behind the trees at night. How abhorrent. He speaks a little quieter when he continues, "It is most likely the group that Danarius' letters were referring to."

I take I drink from the mug that I had asked for, which is filled with a cool cider-like drink. The taste is that of tangy apples and it reminds me of the cider that I would drink from the Okanagan.

We chat a little for the time that it takes for us to each finish our drinks. The subject changes slightly but it mainly goes back and forth from the subject of our future travels.

After we finish our drinks, we go to our rooms.

I lay in the rough straw bed, looking at the bare wooden ceiling and fall asleep.

* * *

When I wake up in the morning I, once again, pack up a bag in preparation for a solo trip. I don't really know how much time it has been since that day, but I do know that it has been long enough that my hair has grown to lengths that I have never experienced before. I run the brush through my now nearly butt length, golden blonde tresses. I also know that recently I have gotten very good at French braids. Maybe once I get good enough I'll start to experiment with different combinations of braids…

I walk down the narrow stairs to the tavern area, where Fenris is already sitting at a table. I sit down across from him again. He is sitting forward on the chair with his elbows on the table and his hands clasped in front of his face; judging by the look on his face he has something serious he wants to discuss.

"What's on your mind, Fenris?" I give him a quizzical look, tilting my head as he looks up.

He breathes in deeply before replying, "I still believe that separating now is not in your best interest." Oh boy… This again. I sit back in my chair, I'll give him kudos for effort.

"Fenris… I—"

"I know that you want to find Circle mages for something. I may not know how serious it is, but I do know that as you are you are not suited to travelling alone." Ugh… First Flemeth and now from Fenris. Although, I certainly wouldn't have argued Fenris' approach to my apparent naivety from Flemeth. Now, though… All I really want is to go home. While staying with Fenris may help me to become more suited to travelling solo in Thedas; that is _not_ what I need. I need to go home. The fact that Fenris doesn't think that I am suited to be on my own here is proof enough for me that I need to leave. The fact of the matter is that I do _not_ belong here. He continues the onslaught with, "I know that going to Danarius is not ideal for you as they seemed to be very interested in acquiring you, but I still stand by what I said"

"Fenris…" I wait for him to meet my eyes again, "That is exactly why I have to do this. It isn't that you are going to where Danarius is, I understand what you intend to do upon finding him. That you don't think I will be okay on my own is exactly why I need to find Circle mages as soon as I can." I see the question pass over his face, "I know it may not make sense to you right now, but I promise that for me the solution isn't becoming stronger, or more world-wise, or even less naïve. I know what I need to do, but I don't know _how_ to do it. That's why I need the help of Circle mages." The look on his face says that he hasn't changed his mind, but he sits back in his chair.

He sighs, probably out of exasperation from dealing with me.

"If you are certain that this is what you want, then I won't stop you. You have the freedom to choose your path, just as I do." He pauses as if I might change my mind before he continues to speak. After a few moments of silence, he reaches down to his bag and pulls out a book. A well-used looking book. He places it on the table and slides it over to me, "This is a collection of information on regions on Southern Thedas." So… An atlas-encyclopedia hybrid? I pull the book closer and run my fingers over the cover, the writing on the front is so worn that I can hardly make out the words. I flip it open to a random page in the middle that features a map of north-eastern Fereldan, with the city of Denerim as the center of the map. On the pages following it has information on the region, including the names of known Dalish groups.

"Fenris…" I don't think I've ever received such a thoughtful gift… "I…" I look at him, gather myself and continue with, "Thank you. This is a wonderful gift." I close the book and run my fingers over the cover. The only other gifts to be as personal and thoughtful as this were all from Arry.

"This can answer your questions as you travel." Ha ha, since the past while he has been doing that. So now he is giving me this book to answer my questions in his place. You know… This broody, white-haired elf may seem distant but really, he must care a lot to be able to give such a thoughtful gift. I wonder how he got to be so caring…

We eat a last meal at the tavern before we head out to the main road. The main stretch of Lydes, where I will go north and Fenris will go south. The city's hustle and bustle are getting worse as we get closer to the main road; but still nothing like the bustling metropolises of my home, like Tokyo or New York.

Finally, once we reach the main road Fenris stops and turns to face me. He smiles slightly, which in Fenris expressions is a huge deal, and puts a hand on my shoulder.

"I am certain that we will see each other again. So, until then…" He pauses briefly, "Stay safe."

I smile back at him, the smile easier and more genuine than I had since coming here, "You stay safe too, Fenris." I don't know if we will really see each other again, but I do know that the time I spent with him has changed me.

He turns to face south and begins to walk. I stand for a minute watching as he disappears into the throngs of people. _Am I really making the right decision?_ I tilt my head to the sky for a moment before I turn to the north and begin the next part of my journey.

Alone.

* * *

I come over a rise in the road, to be greeted by the glistening waters of the Waking Sea.

As I continue along the remnants of the Imperial Highway, with the tall arches that span the distance from Lydes to the Waking Sea, and get closer to the moderately sized port area I notice structures protruding from the waters of the sea. _The Imperial Highway, maybe?_ I pull to the side of the road to take a break before going into the actual port area.

I pull a small sachet of dry meat out of my bag, along with the book that Fenris gave to me. I look into the section on Lydes and the Waking Sea to see if it is the highway. Although, ultimately, I just sit there staring at the pages as I turn them. Not really reading.

I remember some of the people I called my friends before I had that falling out with my parents. I had grown up with wealthy parents, owning a large company tends to do that. My mother had been the one to inherit the company from her mother, but it was my father who put my siblings and I into private academies and what not. This resulted in me having a lot of friends from other rich families. Now I don't really know the reasoning behind what they did, I only know the product of their choices.

It had been right around the time I had been cut-off from my family for choosing to change my major to a Visual Art major, I had had some money on me but no connection to any additional funds. So, I turned to my friends. Rather, the people who I thought were my friends. They had been the people I trusted most through high school. The people I had, at the time, thought that I would hold close to me for the years to come. People I had invested time, effort, nights comforting them, and so many times of hardship in each of their lives. The women I would have made my bridesmaids. The people I would have helped no matter the circumstances. But when I went to them for help in my time of need, when I had been emotionally distraught about the argument with my parents, about being sent away from my home, and about being unsure of my future, they all turned me away. I had gone to my five closest friends. And like clockwork, one after another, at their doorsteps after ignoring my calls and messages they each turned me away for vague and defensive reasons. I had been truly naïve then.

Don't get me wrong, I hadn't been asking for financial help; I had been asking for a place to spend one night to calm down and gather my thoughts before confronting my parents again. In the end, I had spent the night at dingy, shifty motel and I had decided never to go back to a group of people that would refuse to help their friends and turn them away without a second thought. The next day, I had gone to find a place to live. A place away from my family, away from my 'friends,' and away from everything I had known in my life.

The one fortune that came from that time, is that my search for a place to live had brought me to Arry.

I return my small bag of jerky to my bag and stand back up. I had gotten an early start today and made it most of the way to the port before the roads got busy, but now that the sun has risen into the sky the traffic seems to be picking up. The traffic includes people coming from the docks heading in the direction that I came from; carts laden with crates, baskets, and boxes of goods to be peddled and traded. It also includes the same going towards the port. I see some of the people on carts going opposite directions briefly greet each other in passing.

I swing my bag around and feel an impact as I heave the second strap onto my left shoulder. Confused, I look around trying to identify what caused the feeling of impact. When my search procures nothing at eye level, I look at the ground around myself. A lump of brown leathers with a bag grabs my attention.

I reach to move the leathers, when it shifts of its own accord and then groans. Wait… Oh my God!

I kneel down next to the pile of leathers as it turns over to reveal a woman. Shit. I just took out a woman with my backpack and it's not like I just have a bunch soft thing in my pack.

I put my hand on her back, "I am so sorry. Are you alright?"

She shifts into a sitting position, rubbing her a head a little, "A little shaken but I'm okay." She has a bit of an accent, but I can't discern where it's from.

I help her stand up and she brushes herself off. The dust filling the air around us. She is actually a few inches shorter than I am, I would say a few inches taller than five feet by the look of her, and her skin has a slight tawny hue to it. She said she's fine, but something seems off about how she is whipping her head around like something could pop out from behind me or the bushes behind us at any moment. I had thought her hair to be chestnut brown, but with the movement of her head spinning causes it to catch the sunlight revealing that it is closer to a deep auburn than brown.

I could hear her mumble something under her breath. She readjusts everything she's is carrying, including her backpack that head been sent askew by my swinging my own onto my back.

"Uh… Are you sure you're alright? I think I got you pretty hard with my bag…" She kind of bounces in place for a second before she looks up at me with slate grey eyes. "I mean you also seem kind of out of breath. Were you being chased or something?"

She looks intently into my eyes for another moment before answering, "There was…" She peers around us once more, "But it looks like they've desisted now that I'm on a busy road." Well, I suppose that that is a good thing, but it doesn't really mean they've given up. As I should very well know by this point.

"Well, why don't we keep it so that you are a target that isn't worth the effort. Where are you going now?" I ask the question, unsure of whether she will answer, because honestly, I'm not entirely sure I would answer. I also notice that on the road where I had passed not long ago there are a couple of guys standing at the edge of the road and they are staring right at us.

She smiles slightly at me, "Before they began following me, I was heading to the port to catch a ferry to Val Royeaux." I smile, more at myself than anything. What are the chances? I once heard in a show that no road is long with good company and that even a chance encounter could be fate.

"Well, I was just going to head into town to find ferry to Val Royeaux myself. If you wouldn't mind the company perhaps I can help you make those people bored. My name is Gaelea, how about you?" At least accompany her until we are sure she is in the clear from any pursuit.

"I'm Brenawyn." She spots my eyes dart up to the people I noticed and nervously smiles at me, "And I think I will take you up on that offer, at least until we get to Val Royeaux anyway."

We turn together and begin to walk down the hill to the small town.

Once we find a ferry with the destination of Val Royeaux, we board it. We both watch for the people who had been following her, and as the ferry launches I see them turn around in a huff before walking into a tavern looking building. A weight lifts off my shoulders that I hadn't noticed, and I smile at Brenawyn as she watches the door close behind them as they make the move to leave her alone.

The sails of the ships unfurl, and the wind fills them pulling us away from the docks. The only thing there is now is the journey ahead. Once I'm in Val Royeaux I will see if I can find anything hints towards a way home. Even if I don't find the way home, perhaps I can find a place more likely to have information.

I lower myself down to sit on the deck of the ship and lean against the railing, my head just at the top of the railing in this spot. I gaze up at the sky and wonder what I will uncover in Val Royeaux.

* * *

"Oh! I think I see it up ahead!" I snap my head up at Brenawyn's remark. I scan the horizon ahead of us, it has been days since we had passed anything larger than a hamlet. That Kirkwall might be on the horizon finally fills me with relief.

With any luck at all, maybe there will be answers here. It has been six weeks since I left Val Royeaux. While I had been there, Brenawyn and I had stayed at the same inn; more out of ease than anything. We got to chatting some, mostly about useless things; fashion and the like. She had helped me find the smith that Fenris had said would be reliable and she even helped me pick out some new gear that wasn't too pricy.

While I had been in Val Royeaux, I asked around about mages and the Circles to see if there may be anyone in the area who could help me track down rare magic; such as dimensional travel, which is what I have taken to calling it lately. Unfortunately, most of the mages had left the area since the Circles had fallen. I caught up with a couple of mages, but they were low ranking and could only give me leads to other Circles that may still be intact or places where there may be knowledgeable apostates. Note that they gave me this information only after laughing at my request initially.

Apparently, the word 'apostate' is the proper title of a mage that doesn't belong to any Circle. Although, by my logic, if the Circles have fallen, does that not mean that all mages are apostates? Regardless, any mages I spoke to in Val Royeaux were no more help than any others I had already met. Only offering hearsay and conjecture, and no helpful information.

I had decided to follow one of the leads I had procured about a Circle at the northern edge of the Free Marches that had supposedly stayed intact through all the commotion of the Circles falling. There the mages still learn and practice, and the Templars still protect the mages from the outside and themselves. Not that I really understand the connection between the mages and the Templars.

That circle is in a city called Hasmal. It didn't seem terribly large, but there seemed to be a lot of traffic. Brenawyn told me that this city is known for being a route for escaped slaves from Tevinter to leave behind their lives and start anew. I had shivered then at the thought of how close I had been to being one of those slaves who would be trying to escape Tevinter. It also made me uncomfortable to be so close to the country that would have enslaved me without a second thought.

That being said, the Circle there was in fact fully functioning. It had taken me a couple of days to gain entry to talk with the First Enchanter of the Circle. Once they had decided that I was not going to attack and/or blow anything up, they allowed me inside; with an escort, of course. I had tried to be very careful when wording my inquiry. Although, once I had dropped the phrase 'travelling to other worlds through the Fade,' most of the mages within earshot snort, snickered or issued some combination of the two. The Senior Enchanter who had been escorting me then explained that the Fade cannot be entered physically. Naturally, I wanted to argue the point, as I distinctly remember that freakish place and how it felt to be and walk there, but I kept my mouth shut. It wouldn't do to tell everyone that I was a person from another world that arrived here by means of the Fade. Not to mention that if the mere notion of travelling through the Fade physically brought that kind of reaction, no doubt the existence of whole other worlds would likely be out of the question.

There had only been one mage present who had taken me half seriously, and to be honest I'm pretty sure that he had only been humoring me. He speculated that if one were to somehow physically enter the Fade then perhaps travelling to another world could be accomplished, _if_ there were such a place to travel to. Myself, this mage, and my Senior Enchanter escort went to inquire at their library that was being attended my someone rather monotone; Tranquil I was told. This man whose voice sounded devoid of life told us that he had not seen any tome or text in their collection that would help my search, so I left the Circle with only more questions. The mage who had not laughed me off right away had told me that in Kirkwall, despite their Circle having been one of the first to fall, may yet have some information that could prove useful.

And so, I had been given my next hunting location.

Brenawyn, who had met up with me on the Imperial Highway a couple of days east of Val Royeaux, said that she had actually been looking for her family, who had supposedly escaped Tevinter some weeks ago via Hasmal. She had actually used our time in Val Royeaux to get in contact with the group that had helped her family leave their lives of enslavement.

Upon arriving at Hasmal and talking with her contact she had found out that her family had taken up livelihood in a city called Ostwick to the south-eastern reaches of the Free Marches. So, she told me that with my approval she would join me in travelling to Kirkwall so that she could catch a ship to Ostwick.

In our travelling time from when we met back up east of Val Royeaux to arriving at Hasmal, we had bonded significantly. Honestly, even now, it feels as though I have found someone that I could dedicate time to becoming close friends with. When I chat with her we just seem to click into place, mind that that doesn't mean we always agree, but that we can look past disagreement and understand each other's viewpoints. Whenever we talk or confide trivial things in each other, it feels as though I'm finally healing from losing Arry. I won't ever forget her, but the more time I invest in getting closer to Brenawyn, the less it hurts to think about. That I can think about it all, without feeling a gaping hole in my heart, is a huge improvement really.

Brenawyn had shared with me that ten years ago her family had been abducted by slavers while she had been playing in the forest with her friends. For years she had barely scraped by with enough to eat, eventually turning to thievery to survive. I had been able to see the pain of the memories on her face as she recounted the trials she had faced. She told of how she had become indebted to a criminal organization based out of Lydes for the last four years and that when she got word of people by the description of her family escaping Tevinter she had begged to be released from her debt. Although, she had become one of their most skilled thieves and hadn't wanted to let her just up and leave.

She had then decided to leave under the cover of night. Being as skilled as she was, she had been able to get out of the city. Unfortunately, they had caught up with her in the forest near the dock town, because she had let her guard down believing that she had gotten far enough away to fool them. That is when she had run into me, or rather I had beaned her with my backpack. Which had explained why those men had followed us into town.

I continue to scan the horizon, when a strange shape catches my attention.

"Is it that weird looking lump jutting out over there?" I gesture at the unusual formation, my arm bouncing up and down slightly with the gait of the horse I'm riding.

"Yes, that's it! It looks a little different approaching from this side though." Brenawyn looks at me, "Last time I visited Kirkwall, I took a ship to the docks and approached from the South not the North." Brenawyn looks back to where we are going, I look up to the sky. The sun is approaching the halfway point from the height of the day to sunset.

"Are we going to make before sunset?"

"We might be pushing it a little, but I imagine we should be alright."

We had been travelling from Tantervale to Kirkwall for six days now. On horseback. And good God does my ass hurt. I will be happy to dismount this horse for good. I adjust my weight on the saddle, the sores on my butt made glaringly obvious by the movement, not to mention the ache that has developed at the base of my tailbone. Brenawyn glances sidelong at me and smiles.

"Well, we'll likely make it if we don't take any breaks." Like an arrow to the chest, _damn._ She already knows me too well. I had only just started to play with the idea of taking a quick break. But apparently, she's psychic and just shot the hope down, hardcore.

"Awe… You wound me…" I grin at her, "I would never suggest a break… Not when our destination is so close…" I meet her eyes briefly before we both laugh.

It had been so long since I had laughed truly, but when we were about to cross the border into Nevarra Brenawyn had said that had sparked a true laugh in me. I don't even remember now what it was she said, I only remember the laughing that followed and how it had lifted an invisible weight off my shoulders the longer it poured from me. Being with Brenawyn is so easy, just like it had been with Arry. Now, that doesn't mean that she always agrees with me, we often have different opinions. But it stands that this budding friendship just feels so easy to grow and nurture.

I ponder what Kirkwall will be like when we get there, just as any road weary traveller would. I wonder if it will be like Tantervale at all. Honestly, Tantervale seemed like an incredibly uptight city. Brenawyn had told me that it is infamous among thieves for being a town that is steeped in the Chantry's beliefs, making it hard to commit crime. She added as a side note that it doesn't really stop _all_ crime, but it just makes the crime hard to see and harder to find. She also mentioned that she had known one of the people in the group she was a part of had been discovered committing a crime there and as a result he can't be seen anywhere in the Free Marches at all.

So, if I had had any desire to commit a crime in the first I certainly did not after that.

Although, in the terms of at home I could have be jailed a hundred times over for killing all the people I have. I could fight that it had all been self defense but even that doesn't always hold up.

I shake my head to clear the thoughts. I have decided that as long as killing bothers me, it must mean that I'm still human. At least… I hope that that is the case. Then maybe even if can't avoid killing, I won't lose myself.

I look at the horizon, realizing that Kirkwall is a lot closer than I thought it was originally. As looking now, it seems to be getting larger between the mountains.

We come up to a rise in the road and are greeted with a pretty spectacular view of the city. Atop the highest point I can see a castle, and from there the city seems to spread downwards to the glisten waters of the Waking Sea. I can see a statue that looks as though it is standing in the water, but I can't see the details. I can also make out the top of a huge building that is slightly off-set from the rest of Kirkwall.

Brenawyn points at the off-set building, "That building is the called The Gallows." Well that is certainly an ominous name… "That is where the Templar Order is based and where the Circle of Magi was." She pauses for a minute, "I haven't been here in a few years. Although, it had been shortly after I left that some mage blew up the Chantry building inside the city." My jaw drops a bit, a mage blew up a whole Chantry building? Now mind that I may not have seen as many chantry buildings as the next person, but they all seem to have grandeur in common. Even the smaller Chantries tend to ere on the extravagant side of things. Not unlike large churches back home. To think that one mage could cause such an attack, no wonder the people here fear magic so often. Although, I suppose I'm not really one to talk, seeing as my own magic has caused a fair amount of destruction; not that it was ever fully intentional.

"I had arrived there just after the Arishok had killed the Viscount and the Champion had killed him…" She paused for a minute, as though she were sorting though her memories of her time there, "It had proven a very difficult city to settle in for me though, and lucky for that too. I had been living in one of the areas that had been affected by the Rebellion a couple of years after I left. I had only stayed for a couple of months before moving on by boat to Jader." She turns and smirks at me, "We both know how that ended."

We chat idly as we make our way to the city, and the road getting busier by the minute is a telltale sign that we are nearing a city.

Although…While I have been to a fair few cities here, I don't think I've ever seen such a busy space outside of the city walls…

Looking around now, as we near where the gates to the city are, there are groups of people on the sides of the road, tents set up in groups, and even tables set up along the side of the road like a makeshift market.

We approach the gates, but they are closed with only the smaller door on one side open with a flock of guards standing near it. One of the guards over there beckons us to them and, naturally, we oblige. As we approach him I notice that there is a couple of other people talking with another of the guards. From what I can tell, they are merchants… And they seem especially upset about something. One of them is holding the arm of the angry looking one who appears to be speaking harshly. Oddly, the angry one isn't actually yelling, I can only tell what he is saying once we get close enough to the talk with the guard that beckoned us.

"Looking to enter the city?" His gaze shifts between the two of us.

I lock eyes with him a moment, "Yes, we would both like to enter the city." I speak for both of us this time but Brenawyn confirms my words with a nod.

"Do you have anyone inside waiting for you?" What? What does that have to do with anything? "If you do not have anyone inside waiting for you then you may not enter. With all the havoc that is still happening inside we can't just be letting idle bodies into the city with no reason." Oh… I suppose that makes sense…

I go to answer but Brenawyn beats me to it this time, "I do have someone inside, but we are a couple of days earlier than I thought we would be."

The guard contemplates for a moment before answering, "Sorry, unless they are at the gates waiting and able to confirm your identity then I cannot let you inside. Not even merchants have been given entry to the city since the Rebellion." Hmm… That doesn't make it easy for us… But I wonder who Brenawyn's person inside is, I can't imagine that they will let me inside using Brenawyn's contact.

Brenawyn pauses a moment to decide what to say; seeing as I am not the person with the contact inside the city, I probably shouldn't say anything at all.

In this brief pause I catch some of what the angry merchant is saying, "I'm telling you, you don't understand! The items I am transporting are incredibly delicate and expensive, and I am certain that we were being followed on the road." The merchant has a vaguely French sounding accent…Uh… So, Orlesian I suppose…The guard attempts to get a word in but fails as the merchant continues his onslaught, saying things along the lines of the periodic patrols won't be enough to deter determined thieves. I roll my eyes slightly, even if this merchant is right it's no excuse to be so rude to the guard who is likely just doing his job. The merchant in question has shoulder length brown hair and is wearing plain looking clothes with a travelling coat.

Brenawyn gasps a little, taking my attention away from the rude merchant, "Is it possible to give a message to someone who can go and get them for us? We have just arrived from Tantervale and have business to attend to."

The guard ponders for another moment, he makes a face of indecision before looking at the dimming sky. Another official-looking person begins to light the torches on the walls by the gates and the door.

He faces us again, "We can deliver a message into the city for you, but the gates close for the night. Even if your contact is notified you won't be able to enter until the gates open in the morning."

Brenawyn nods in understanding, "That sounds fair, I will just write a quick note to him…" She slides her pack off her back and pulls out her box with her writing implements out. She has been writing to various people off and on since we have been travelling together, mostly sending messages via a trained bird. What kind of it is? I am not totally sure… I would say that it is some kind of hawk/corvid mix. What I do know is that it is really goddamn smart. The same bird seems to always be able to find her, no matter how far we may have travelled it always comes back to her with a reply from whoever she had been writing.

She uses the wood of the gates to write her note. Every second she is writing seems to draw out, until the door opens from the other side and a man that I would put at about six feet takes a step out with one hand resting on the hilt of the sword strapped to his hip.

* * *

 **Thanks for keeping with my story! I have been waiting to write this section for a long time now and I hope that you enjoy this and the coming chapters!**


	17. The Kirkwall Scuffle

**Welcome back everyone! Belated Happy New Year to all of you!**

 **I am very excited about this part of the story, it feels like I have been waiting a long time for this point to come!**

 **I hope that you all enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.**

 **As always I love to hear your opinions, critiques and thoughts on my writing or the story!**

 **Also, I recommend you all to Lady Audentium's story on Arryn Mauntelle.**

* * *

The man who steps through the door has topaz eyes that glint in the light of the torch he carries as they seem to take in everything in front of him. Although, it doesn't seem that he is just seeing what's here, but rather that he is thoroughly evaluating every aspect of the scene before him. I realize that I'm staring just as his eyes pass over me, I avert my eyes as I see his come back to me. All the guards pause what they are doing to salute him briefly.

"What is happening out here?" His accent sounds vaguely British as he asks one of the soldiers for an explanation, "You are all meant to be closing this entrance for the night." He adjusts himself, and I can't help but to keep glancing back at him. The authority in his voice is palpable, clearly this is not the first time that he has had to take charge.

He has a golden blond crop of hair, the way it is of wavy and curly reminds me of a guy that my sister once dated. Meaning that, while right now it only _looks_ mostly wavy, I imagine that if here were to grow it out it would turn into a puff of afro-like curls. I also imagine that it has taken some effort for it to be wavy and not an afro. He wears the armor of a Templar of a high station. At least the armor is easy to distinguish from the others who appear to simply be in city-guard uniforms.

A couple of the guards give him a skeptical look, while one of them immediately begins to prattle of a rundown of our situation. "Yes, Knight-Comm—" The man gives the guard a look, "Knight-Captain Rutherford, ser, we were about to begin that where these two ladies arrived. The shorter one says that they have a contact inside waiting for them… Only they're early and need to send them a letter to come tomorrow." Seemingly satisfied by this explanation the Knight-Captain, which I learnt in Hasmal is a title of the second in command of a posting of Templars, turn to face Brenawyn and I.

Finishes writing her letter and begins to fold it intricately as the Knight-Captain takes a couple of steps towards us and her hands stop as he comes before us.

"I am Templar Knight-Captain Cullen Rutherford." He takes a slight bow from his hips before standing upright again; his hand back on his sword. He stands tall enough that I have to look up slightly at him. I have briefly met so many people in the last while that I think I can almost understand the formalities of meeting people… Maybe.

I give a slight bow in return, resisting the near-overwhelming urge to hold out my hand, "I am Gaelea. Pleasure to meet Knight-Captain Rutherford." I haven't been told that handshakes are a thing here, but I haven't seen anyone shake hands yet. I stand back up and look him in the eyes. God, they are really entrancing; the colour is nearly that of liquid gold.

Brenawyn also introduces herself, with a little less of a bow.

The Knight-Captain responds with, "Pleasure." Pausing briefly to take offer a hand to take the letter for Brenawyn's contact, "Allow me to personally deliver this letter. I hope that you understand our reasoning behind closing the city off from outsiders." After taking the letter, he shifts his weight, "It has been… A trying time for Kirkwall and if we let in too many people it will just make the clean-up and recovery more taxing on everyone." Ah… Well that does make sense. The less traffic in and out of the city on a daily basis would make less of a burden on guards and watches, not to mention that there would likely be much more crime to keep track of; looting, vandalism and theft would very likely be through the roof.

Quite suddenly the angry merchant is between myself and the Knight-Captain. Note that there was maybe four feet between us in the first place, so now I find myself with a little less than three feet between the merchant's back and myself. Up this close I can see the truth of his clothing. They are made with incredibly high-quality materials, no fraying at the edges of the hems, no fading of colours, and even the tailoring is near flawless. They may have the loose appearance common clothing but in truth they are anything but that, no person making regular wages here could possibly afford clothing of this quality.

"So. You are the person in charge here, yes?" I can practically hear the building 'I am going to get what I want out of you' speech that, after having worked some years in retail is not uncommon for people to make to the managers when they are unsatisfied for one reason or another. Knight-Captain Rutherford, who is easily a head taller than this man, makes the 'here it comes' face before looking down at the merchant.

"Yes, I am currently one of those in charge of the forces Kirkwall, as well as the guard captains and commanders of course." I can practically here the exasperation dripping from his voice. I almost fail at stifling the giggle that rises in my throat, I manage to turn the sound into a cough before clearing my throat. I could almost swear I saw a hint of a smile across the Knight-Captain's face for a second. The merchant then turns his torso to face me, making a presumptuous expression that is steeped in intention of him letting me know that he couldn't care less that he interrupted mine and Brenawyn's discussion with the Knight-Captain. Ugh… I am immediately reminded of that Orlesian noble that tried to nab me in Highever, they look essentially different but the way this guy oozes hoity-toity self-importance just the same way that noble did.

He rounds back to face Knight-Captain Rutherford again, "Good." Oh boy… Here it comes… "You see, I have been travelling from Val Royeaux for days now." He adjusts his too-well-tailored coat, "I am meant to confer with a fellow merchant here in Kirkwall before continuing on to Ostwick." He shifts himself slightly, "Now. As I have been telling your incompetent guardsman over there," to add flair he points directly at the other guard, "I have some extremely valuable merchandise." Oh, yes… Announce your expensive merchandise. There is surely no one who could possibly hear you… Nope. Not a person. I look over at Brenawyn and make a show of rolling my eyes, I can very easily see her struggle to not burst into laughter. I also note that a few of the other guards turn their heads and start coughing. "And I am almost entirely certain that my caravan was followed here by bandits or something else."

The merchant was about to continue his rant when the Knight-Captain stopped him with a simple clearing of the throat, "Am I correct in assuming that the guard you were speaking informed you of our policies regarding entry to the city?"

"Well, yes." The merchant takes in a large gulp of air preparing to continue. "But—"

But alas, "And in that case, I'm certain you are aware of Kirkwall's current state inside, yes?"

"Yes, of course… But—"

"So, you surely understand why we have created the procedures on allowing people into the city." Knight-Captain Rutherford isn't giving this asshole an inch, in fact, the merchant takes a step back. "And I'm sure that you understand that we are all working to keep the peace so that Kirkwall can regain full functionality." He pauses briefly to see if the merchant will craft a rebuttal but when he says nothing Rutherford continues, "As a compromise, I could arrange a couple of extra overnight patrols through the camps tonight. However, unless the person willing to confirm your identity waits at the door right now, there is nothing more I can do." Ah… The satisfaction of hearing the person with the higher authority only repeating exactly what the subordinate had said in the first place.

I hear the merchant huff in and out a couple of times before, "I suppose if there will be additional patrols tonight I can wait until tomorrow." He pauses briefly, "So long as I am allowed entry tomorrow!" Ah, the tactic of getting in the last word as is often used by many a dissatisfied customer. I wonder how Ser Rutherford will react…

"That will depend on whether you have someone inside who will be ready to identify you." The Knight-Captain repeats the condition of entry to the merchant.

Who then retorts, "And how are they supposed to know that I am waiting? I was meant to meet th—"

"You could follow the example of the ladies behind you. Despite your untimely interruption, they have been patiently waiting for me to escort them to where they are going to be able to set up their own camp. What they have done is write a quick letter to their contact inside to meet them at the door come morning." He holds up said letter, "And I have happily agreed to ensure it reaches the appropriate hands inside the city. Now if you'll excuse me." He steps sideways gesturing to Brenawyn and I to accompany him. I wasn't aware that we would be receiving an escort to where we can set up for the night, but the look on the Knight-Captain's face kind of pleads us to just go with it. And so, I go with it.

"Thank you, Knight-Captain. I really appreciate the gesture." I step along to follow him and without missing a beat Brenawyn follows suit.

We start walking along a path between various other camps and caravans, small fires at each one with people making and sharing food. A few of the people we walk by greet the Knight-Captain in passing.

Once we are out of earshot of the gate I look up at our escort, "For the record I am thoroughly impressed with how calmly you handled that merchant. He had been giving those guards a hard time since before we got there."

"Oh… I… Uh…" He has a bit of a challenge getting started before, "Thank you… There have been many disgruntled merchants since the city guard Captain and I agreed that this method would best protect what peace there is left." He waves at a group of people as we pass them and end up with a sheer drop before us, the Waking Sea slightly still light by the fading light of the sun set. Ser Rutherford waves us along the edge of the cliff. "Though his fears of bandits are not unfounded. I have received reports of bandits that have taken up residence in some of the caves near us along the Wounded Coast." The Wounded Coast… The Knight-Captain gestures along the jagged rock formations as we walk along and come to a stop where the cliff tapers into a steep incline then into a grassy slope. "There have been many caravans being attacked and looted along the roads to the west and the east. We haven't had problems with them coming too close to the city yet and they would have to desperately want something to come here. Especially since there are many merchants who have hired sellswords for protection." His hand settles back onto the hilt of his sword. "I imagine that so many merchants all camped outside of city walls sill looks like a very tempting prize. So regardless, we have regular patrols that go through the camps, but I will assign some extra patrols tonight." We come to a stop at the edge of another camp, "I hope that you don't mind terribly to be over here. There is not much space left near the gate, there were many new arrivals today who couldn't enter."

Brenawyn steps forward, looking back at the walls of Kirkwall, "I suppose that all in all we really aren't terribly far from the gate. If I may…" She pauses leading up to her inquiry, the Knight-Captain turns to face her fully, "Do you have plans for all the people out here in the event that the bandits do in fact raid the camps?" She turns back to face him.

He straightens his back some, "Of course, we have had plans ready for that event should it occur." Knight-Captain Rutherford turns to the gates and I notice a torch waving, "Ah, they are finally ready to close the gates." He faces myself, then Brenawyn, "Good night, Miss Gaelea, Miss Brenawyn." He gives a quick bow before walking back the way we came.

I watch him walk away, his armor glinting in the torch light. I continue to watch the light as it goes all the way to the gates and until I see the crop of blond hair disappear behind the door.

"Ahem." The sound of Brenawyn clearing her throat startles me, then it comes to my attention that it is completely dark around as the Knight-Captain had the torch and consequently took it with him.

"Oh…" I look over to Brenawyn, "Sorry… I guess we should get a fire going…"

Brenawyn chuckles a little, "I can't say I've ever seen your eyes follow someone like that…"

I thank the darkness deeply, because if it weren't here Brenawyn would be able to see just how red my face has turned. "I don't know to what you are referring…" I look around, "I'm going to go find some wood for that fire…" I hear Brenawyn snicker as she begins to unpack her tent, before I leave I put down my own tent and travel bag on the ground before walking over to the next camp to inquire on where they found their fire wood.

I dawdle over to the next camp site that has been set up along the cliff side. I come around their wagon guided by the light of their fire. There I find a couple of people mulling about the area and couple of them setting up a second tent. I ask them straight away where they found the wood for their fire and they informed me that there is a pile of wood near the gate. Although, as I begin to make my way over to the gates I find my path slightly blocked by a figure coming into the camp. And alas, it is the puffed-up merchant who had been causing trouble at the gate; firewood in hand.

He kind of scoffs at me, but other than that he basically ignores me, so I just thanked the others at the camp and went along my way.

Later on in the night, Brenawyn and I had agreed that we should still use our keeping watch tactics that we use while we are traveling in order to keep unwanted visitors away. She had volunteered to take the first watch and so now here I sit, on the second watch and I would put the time at around two in the morning or so.

A while back something that I hadn't noticed before, the cause liking being that I hadn't travelled at length with anyone who wasn't an elf since my body had changed, is that my vision is better than it used to be at night. It had come to my attention when I spotted something at night and when I asked Brenawyn about it she couldn't see it. I had been very confused until she sassily remarked that of course she couldn't see it as, she "doesn't have elven super night eyes." It had been quite a task to play off that blunder. No one had ever told me that here elves have night vision. I had definitely felt a little bitter at first, that it until the thought had crossed my mind that everyone I had been with for extended time had always been elves. So naturally, for them being able to see at night is inevitable, once I had realized this I got less bitter about it and also realized that I really have no idea just how much my body changed after coming here.

I gaze up at the stars and I wonder how my vision affects how well I see the stars; I wonder what stars would I able to see at home. I can see fairly well right now with the reaching light of the fires at the other camps although as the night goes on there are fewer fires still lit.

The snap of a twig brings my attention to the area between our camp and the merchant's camp where I see the movement of a small body. I glance over a couple more times before I whisper over at it, "Won't your parents be worried if they find you're not in your bed?" A small squeak from the area tells me they heard me, then they stand up and sheepishly shuffle over.

"My parents never notice when I go exploring at night." The small voice whispers back at me. As it gets closer I see that it belongs to a young girl, wearing a what are obviously nightclothes with a travel coat over top. "I am very good at being quiet when I leave the tent." The girl says matter-of-factly, I would put her around eight years old.

I lightly chuckle, "Are you now?"

She takes a couple of steps closer, "I'm Genevieve." She pauses and looks at me expectantly.

"I'm Gaelea, nice to meet you Genevieve." I keep my voice down in order to not wake Brenawyn.

I see a grin spread across her face, "It's nice to meet you!" I bring one finger up to my lips, "Oh!" Genevieve covers her mouth, "Sorry…" She hoarsely whispers. "Can I—May I sit with you? No one else is awake here." I pat the ground to the left of me in invitation. Genevieve sits down and watches quietly for a couple of minutes before, "So why are you awake then?" Of course, he whispered the question to me.

"I suppose it's more a habit than anything… It's to make sure that no bad guys can sneak up on us."

She sucks in a breath sharply, "Do you think there will be bad guys tonight?" She frantically scans the grassy hill that goes down to the shore of the Waking Sea, that now glitters in the light of the moons. One of the patrols that Knight-Captain Rutherford mentioned passes by, I nod at them and they to me.

"I hope not, but you can never be too careful." I put my hand her shoulder and she shuffles in a little closer to my side, unsure of how to react I just pat her shoulder lightly and go back to scanning the valley and the cliffs. "Plus, the patrols walking through the camps are here to stop any bad guys too.

After a couple of minutes, I notice that Genevieve is intently staring at me. I glance over at her a couple of times before asking, "Is everything alright?"

She jumps a little, "You're an elf, right?" Huh? Oh… Right. My right hand goes up to my ear, but I suppose for everyone who meets me it is probably the first thing they notice about me.

"Well spotted, I am an elf. Have you met very many?" I quietly ask.

"I have met a couple but never at night. Your eyes are really cool! Kind of like a cat…" Oh… I mean I suppose seeing at night must show some how. It must be that my eyes open wide enough to let in enough light to see by, which would mean that any existing light, like that coming over here from the nearby camps, would reflect off my retinas… Huh.

"Yeah, it makes it easier to see at night." To this I could see her face alight with even more questions.

"Oh! I bet that it makes it more easier to see the bad guys!" She gets excited and her voice gets a little louder, so I put my finger to my lips again. "Oh… Sorry…" She whispers back to me.

"But you are right. It does make it easier to see them, if they are there."

We sit quietly for a while longer, Genevieve commenting on the stars, the sea, the moons, and just about every tiny sound that happens. She tells a couple of stories about her adventures at night and I share a couple of funny stories with her. I admit a couple of are from here and I just adjusted the words to fit Thedas.

I take a breath in to ask Genevieve when she is going to go back to bed, when a stray glint from near the sea catches my eyes. I focus on where I thought I saw it, at the base of the cliffs before the hill turns into the jagged edges of the Wounded Coast, the light of the moons fading as they begin to sink towards the western horizon. I wait. And then some more. I start to turn my head when I distinctly see the glint again. Closer this time. I stand up.

"Genevieve, go wake up your parents and get to the gates. If you find a patrol tell them the bad guys are coming." She looks at me, eyes watering.

"But I'm not brave enough to do it alone…" She grasps my sleeve. I turn and kneel in front of her.

"What are you saying? You came over here all on your own, I know for a fact that you can do this." She blinks away her tears and wipes her face with her sleeve and runs the other way.

Once she passes the tents, Brenawyn emerges from her tent daggers in hand.

"You ready for them?" She says as she approaches. I pull one of my swords out of its sheathe, I grab one of the sticks from the remnants of the fire, slight embers still faintly glowing, and nod at her. "Alright, I'm going to go warn the other camps and get the attention of the guards." She turns to leave, "I'll try to send some of the sellswords your way, but we both know what they can be like." She snickers a little and heads off into the camps towards the gates.

Ugh… Sellswords… I _do_ know what they can be like. Mind, they aren't all bad. However, they are a great many mercenaries who take their employment a little too literal, in that they won't act any one way until they are promised payment. More than once Brenawyn and I were forced to fend for ourselves against too many opponents on the road because the nearest people would only help us if we promised payment.

There in fact had been a time when Brenawyn and I had come across a family being held up by bandits for their belongings. Ahead of us had been a group of sellswords, but when the family begged them to help, they asked what the help was worth to them. When the family admitted that everything they had was right there, the mercenaries just kept walking, despite that they could have easily taken the bandits on.

I shake my head in reaction to the unsavoury memory. I should probably not count on anyone coming until the city guard makes it. I begin to walk over to the hill I can hear the shuffle of the group of bandits trying to be quiet. I stand where the incline flattens to the space where the camps start. I can hear the people migrating over to the gates now. Seeing as no one has come to help, I guess I'm on my own for now. At least until Brenawyn gets back.

You know, before travelling with Fenris I would have turned tail and gone to the city gates with the rest of the people. But now… I find myself feeling similar to when I used to at my workplace when I would go to lift something that really should be lifted using the 'team lifting' method, but unable to find anyone to help me. Now, I feel as though I am capable of doing it alone, even if I shouldn't.

With a thought I bring the embers back to life, "Come on out now guys, your sneakiness needs more sneakiness." I yell into the shadows, as I toss the now lit torch onto the hill and watch it begin to roll down the incline. As I reach for the sword on my back, I close my eyes and another thought causes the torch to explode into a shower of flames, hopefully temporarily blinding the bandits standing up as they stop crouching in darkness.

I spin the swords by their hilts in my hands. I had been working on being more aware during fights and am now able to almost feel the energy of the people surrounding me. Although now, because of the geography of this specific incline the bandits must make their way up the hill and through a very limited space between the cliff that leads into the hill and the face of a cliff; leaving about fifteen feet of passable space. It'll be a challenge to keep the bandits from getting into the camp. I'm not even sure that I will be able to stop them all, but all I really need to do is delay them long enough for the guards to come.

I take a few steps back from the edge of the hill, the bandits slowly coming into the ambient light of the campsites. Weapons glinting back what low light there is. The man who appears to be leading them puts his arm out, stopping the advance about twenty feet away from me.

"Now, now." He exaggerates looking over and around me, his voice leering with a drawl, "Surely you don't mean to fight all of'us, not when yer all alone." All I do in response is look at him and smirk. His eyes squint at me, "Y'know, my crew is upwards of twenty people?" I spot the lie that he spouts as it leaves his lips, I had seen them approaching and know that there is likely a dozen or so people behind him. While that is still more than I can handle alone but not how many he tries to convince me are present.

"Is that so?" I shrug, "I guess that will have to do." I let a small amount of magic flow from my hands into my blades, electrifying the metal. Since the last time I used this, I found a level of power that disables opponents quickly without damaging my weapons, although it does require that I actually touch the metal to the skin of my opponent.

"Have it yer way then." He gestures forward and the bandits yell as they run forward.

The fastest arrive, one with a couple of daggers and another with a sword and shield. My mind kicks into combat gear, I deflect the two daggers with one sword by plunging it upwards between where they crossed in the air. I spin slightly to graze the wielder's ankles, and as I turn to make a blow against the shield, they crumple to the ground. Their companion's fall causes the shield wielder to lose concentration briefly, but long enough for me to use my first blow with my left sword move the shield aside while bringing my right sword done across their shield arm. They too crumple, slight spasms as the only evidence of my technique.

Another dagger-wielding rogue pops out in front of me in a cloud of smoke, I hear the blade coming upwards and jump back seconds too late. I feel the cold metal trace up the right side of my jaw. As I land I crouch and launch forward and up at the rogue, the last thing I see before my swords strike is the fear in their eyes as they meet mine. My mind steps back and my body takes full control, instincts telling me where to turn and strike. Deflect, slash, jump and kick, cross slash. I can tell that I've allowed some of them to get past me, but there are probably four or five people around me at any given time. I can feel when their weapons get me, my intuition keeping damage minimal, but there are some bandits that amidst the flurry of strikes against me land home.

I strike at a bandit across the chest with my left and as they fall I leap forwards at the one waiting behind them pulling my right down onto their shoulder, I pull sideways, sending them into their companions to my left; loosing my sword from their shoulder as they impact the others. Following the momentum of the spin, I slash at the people surrounding me, clangs of weapons and shield ringing out.

Ending the spin almost crouched I turn and leap into my next attack, they have put a sword up to counter my right, so I begin to bring my left up from slightly behind me. I come to my senses and stop my right inches away from Knight-Captain's sword that he put up just stop mine and stop my left at about a foot from what would have been a blow he hadn't seen coming.

I take a breath in and stand upright allowing my arms to fall to my sides, "Knight-Captain." I breathe heavily from the exertion of the fight. Men from Kirkwall come around us, torches in hand, lighting up the carnage I had wrought against the bandits.

"Gaelea, may I ask if you were alone over here?" He gestures around me, I glance at the general area. I am no longer near the edge of the incline the bandits came from, rather I am about forty feet away from it. The whole forty feet littered with the bandits. Knight-Captain Rutherford's guards and some Templars are checking the bodies now. I glance around again before I nod, adrenaline wearing off beginning to leave me exhausted. My eyes stop at one body in particular, with a slash wound up his neck and face; the bandit's leader. "My apologies. Your friend Brenawyn came to us with the report of the bandits coming in minutes before they hit us from the other side as well." Oh… So maybe that guy hadn't been lying after all. Although, strategy-wise, that is a sound tactic; splitting up a large force to flank unsuspecting victims.

Pain begins to set in as the many cuts and slashes over my arms and legs begin to come the front of my mind due to the fading adrenaline. I turn to face the Knight-Captain as everything blurs slightly before coming back into focus. _Just a little longer_. "Did everyone make it away?" A confused look passes over the Knight-Captain's face before a heart-stopping smile comes over his features and disappears just as quickly, as he takes a step towards me.

"Thanks to you and Brenawyn there were no casualties."

 _Good_. As if not knowing that had been the only thing to keep me from slipping under, I feel my head get light as I fall forward and let myself be embraced by a deep and warm blackness.

* * *

 _I look around the hotel room one last time, off to see my parents again. The pit of nervousness in my stomach grows. I take one step out the door and when I hesitate my sister takes hold of my hand, my brother puts his hands on my shoulders reassuringly and urges me out the door all the way._

 _I look at him, his clear blue eyes kind as he pushes me forward, his sandy crop of waves tousling my neck as we go forward. Elysia holding my hand pulling forward her eyes a perfect mirror of Ethan's and her hair tied into a ponytail and as she turns to face ahead of us the ponytail sweeping over my arm._

 _The scene changes to a restaurant, everyone is present; my sister and brother, my mom, my dad, and Grandma Ella. Oh wait, there's one more person here. Sitting between my mom and Grandma Ella is a woman with long white hair. I know her, but somehow, I can't find her name. Something is impeding my mind from the finding the information._

 _Our food arrives and when the lid is lifted all it reveals is a platter of McDonald's, the enticing aroma wafting up from the plate._

 _But as I reach to grab at it, it all disappears into nothing._

I open my eyes, to see daylight streaming in a window and a ceiling made of stone. My heart aches for home. I haven't dreamt of home for a couple of weeks now, although this had to have been the most dreamlike dream of home so far. Not to mention, the white-haired woman at dinner with my family had been Flemeth.

The soreness sets in all over my body and I can't help but let a small groan escape as I try to heave myself into a sitting position. The room I am in has few cots other than the one I am laying in, and on the far side of the room a wooden door with a couple of tables full of bandages and small bottles. In the corner opposite me next to one of the tables is someone sitting in a chair. Someone with a crop of messy looking blond hair. Someone who appears to be asleep.

I sit for a couple minutes, taking inventory of all the bandages that cover my arms. Although, between checking my bandages, I find myself sneaking looks at the Knight-Captain sleeping in the corner. When we had spoken the night before I had tried to ignore the obvious handsomeness of his face, but right now he looks so peaceful that there is no ignoring just how attractive he is.

Well, that is until I see him start to stir. I quickly divert my eyes back to my bandages to wait until he says something, I can feel my cheeks start to turn red. _Of all the things I had left behind at home, this stupid instant blush couldn't have possibly been one of them?!_

"Oh! You're awake! I—I'm sorry, I did not realize that I had dozed off." As I look over at him a slight stammer escapes his mouth and he stands up straight away. He takes a few steps over, "I hope that you are feeling well." His topaz eyes completely full of sincerity.

"I… Well, I'm a little sore but that about it…" A slight smile blossoms on his already ridiculously handsome face, I look down to my hands on my lap. After a couple of seconds, I look around the space again, "Uh… Where exactly am I? The last thing I remember is…" Wait… What is the last thing I remember? I sift through my memories, the memories of the fight are a hazy blur of intense action and instinct. I remember Ser Rutherford arriving… And then… _Oh._ I feel a blush colour my face again.

"Uh… Well… After the fight last night…" Ser Rutherford brings a hand up behind his neck and slightly averts his eyes, "You collapsed… And… Uh… Well, I caught you and… I—I carried you here… To the barracks infirmary, the healers took care of you from there…" Oh god… Not only did a collapse onto him, but he even carried me into the city?

I do my best to make a slight bow to him, "Thank you, Knight-Captain Rutherford. I apologize for any inconvenience that I may have caused." I sit back up and see his astonished face before he gathers himself.

"Oh, no! You weren't any inconvenience at all! I mean, you saved a great many people with your actions—and really we took so long to get to you…" He stammers a bit, I swear I see a little colour enter his face, and then he trails off before pausing and looking back to meet my eyes, "What you did at the hill last night was truly incredible." Again, the sincerity in his eyes strikes me, "And you can just call me Cullen… That is of course, if you like."

I wonder how obvious my face is making me… "I... Thank you… Cullen."

The door of the room opens up and a kind looking woman walks in, "Knight-Captain, I will have to ask you to leave so that I may check her bandages and wounds." She stands at the table looking over at us, with a sly grin on her face, Cullen looking between us quickly.

"Of course, Healer Eddin. I… Excuse me." He gives me a slight bow before turning and walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Healer Eddin strides over to me, healing implements in hand. She looks about five foot five inches, give or take a little. I would say she is probably close to her mid to late twenties; putting very close to my, at this point, a little past twenty-four… Her cinnamon brown hair pulled into a tidy but loose bun at the base of her neck. She has grey eyes that kind of glitter with excitement as she comes up to me.

"Alright, off with them." Huh? She sets basket of things onto the neighboring bed before looking back at me, "Your clothes of course." Huh?! She glances from her things to me and back, "I am Healer Khedra Eddin. Don't worry, I had to bandage you at first, there's nothing new for me to see. Now strip."

Alright, now that is the last thing I expected this woman to say, but at this point there's no sense in fussing over it… I slowly get up, soreness becoming more evident with every move, and strip. Obviously, I leave my undergarments on only removing the shift and loose pants that she must have put on me. Despite knowing that she is a healer, i.e. nurse, and has probably seen all sorts of stuff, it doesn't stop me from becoming a little red as I sit back down on the bed.

She turns around with a pair of bandage scissors in her hands. She carefully begins to cut away the bandages. I take careful inventory of the injuries that seem the worst. She works quickly and quietly, until she asks me to lay on my stomach so that she can better see any wounds on my shoulders. I am a little reluctant at first but oblige in the end. Once she sees me back I hear the little gasp that I had been waiting for. I look down into the pillow, I know that there isn't really anything to be ashamed of, but I can't help but feel shame over the state of my back. And I haven't even fully seen it…

I feel her fingers gingerly examine my back for any wounds from last night, feeling the areas that are still sensitive from the various wounds that I have had on my back to this point.

A small sigh before she asks me to sit back up, "I apologize, the scars on your back are much worse than I realized when I first dressed your other injuries. May I ask how you got such awful scarring on your back?" Her voice is gentle this time, as if she feels like asking is akin to walking on glass.

I look at my hands in my lap, "I'm sure you can tell this didn't happen all at once." I look at her then at the side of my ribs where Dorian's three dagger lines still show, "Some of it is from a whip, some from daggers… I don't really remember everything that has happened any more, and nor do I care to." I see the healer's hands pause a moment before she goes back to work, putting salve on the wounds.

"All things considered your wounds are not terrible, they are mostly shallow and will heal quickly. In fact, many of the smallest ones have already healed mostly over the last day. The only one that may take slightly is the one on your face." Oh… Right. I shudder as I remember the fear that I had seen in the rogue's eyes as I launched my counter attack. "Look left, slowly." I comply, slowly turning my head to the left to expose the gash, it stings a little but as soon as she begins to apply the salve the pain fades.

"Wait… Last day? How long was I out for?" I almost turn to face but manage to keep my face still.

"Oh… Knight-Captain Rutherford brought you here in the middle of the night… The night before last night. You slept for all of yesterday and last night, and now it is nearly afternoon." She finishes with my face and begins to clean up her supplies, "This morning Ser Rutherford came to see how you were fairing," She takes her basket back to the table where a package sits, "and I had him wait here for you to wake up while I went to the Hanged Man quickly for these." She picks up the package and brings it over to me. "The clothes you were wearing got completely ruined. Your friend, Miss Brenawyn, helped me find these in your bag."

She passes the package to me and I shift the wrappings aside to reveal some of my clothes from my bag. Specifically, one of my pairs of supple leather pants and one of my loose, puffy sleeved shirts that is a nice shade of dark green. My belt also slips from between the folds of the pants. Healer Eddin also brings over my boots from the other corner of the room, dirty as ever my boots now feature some stains of my blood. That will not be easy to clean.

"Well, you should be alright not to be back here again. In fact, it is probably best if I don't see you here again." I smile at her as I stand and slip on the pants and shirt. "The worst of your injuries are a couple of deeper gashes to you right leg, one from your collar bone to your shoulder on your right, and one that is on your left bicep. You should be just fine to tend them on your own with a little of this," She passes me a small container with what must be the salve she used, "and some fresh bandages in the morning." She also passes me a handful of fresh bandages.

"Thank you, Healer Eddin, for taking of my cuts and everything else as well, I think it was more exhaustion that got me the other night though…" I bow my thanks to her and as I straighten up I can see her smiling.

"Now don't down play scratches and scrapes. An infection can be deadly! But in all seriousness, please try to not end up here. That means no more heroics!" Ha ha ha. She walks me to the door, "And since you aren't a recruit or part of the city guard you can just call my Khedra, no title needed; I'm not of nobility" Ah… I suppose that makes sense.

As I step out the I look back, "Even if you're not a noble, you did work to get the title 'Healer,' you should use it when you can!" I give her a wink as I walk down the steps of the barracks infirmary into what must just be the barracks area

I only take a couple of steps before I realize… I don't know where in this city Brenawyn went, or where my things are. I start to turn back to the healer, when a throat clearing catches my attention and I turn to face the direction it came from.

A direction where I find the figure of Knight-Cap—I mean… Cullen. The figure of Cullen strides towards me.

"I… Uh…" Heh, this is actually kind of adorable to see, the man in near full plate armor almost stumbling over what to say, "Well… It looks to me as though you could use a guide." Yup, and there it is, after an initial stumble comes the smooth recovery. I can't stop the smile from stretching across my face, but I shouldn't let the level of handsome affect my feelings about getting home.

"A knight in shining armor to guide me through the city?" I exaggerate pondering, as my decision has already been made, "I would be happy to have a guide." He gestures forward, and we begin to walk. Hopefully to my things… Then it sets in that I probably look absolutely horrible. I look down at my plain, borrowed clothes, "Say, Cullen… You wouldn't happen to know where Brenawyn and my things ended up do you?" A knot inside my chest realizes how this must look… A dashing knight in shining plate armor with a dirty, plain looking girl following alongside him. Not exactly an image I want to savour.

A soft chuckle, "Yes, in fact that is where I am taking you now. I understand that your friend Miss Brenawyn has your bag at the Hanged Man in Lowtown." We walk into a grand hall and start towards the towering doors to the left of us, he spots me looking around, "This is the Viscount's Keep, while there isn't—"

"Cullen! Do you have a moment to—" Cullen immediately turns to face someone coming from the barracks area that we just left. The person who as they approach I realize is a woman. "Oh, my apologies, I didn't realize that you were busy." I turn to face her fully, her armor would suggest that she is the Guard-Captain. She has smooth, flaming red hair and strong green eyes.

I look between the two of them, "I can wait if you only need a moment."

"Oh, no. That's alright. I will just find you later, Cullen."

"I am just taking Gaelea to the Hanged Man where her belongings are." This causes the woman to do a double-take of me, with appraising eyes.

"Oh, so you're the so rumoured Gaelea who waged in single-handed combat against half the force of the bandits that accosted the camps west of the city." Good god… 'The so rumoured Gaelea,' I don't think I like the sound of that…

"Rumoured? Oh boy…" She snickers in reaction; a kind smile grows on her face.

"Oh, don't worry. Rumours never last around here; not when there is so much happening every day." Dear god, I hope she's right. "Either way, my name is Aveline Vallen and I am the Captain of the guard. Good to meet you, Gaelea." Apparently, I don't need to tell her my name at all…

"It's good to meet you too, Captain Vallen."

"Well, I will let Cullen take you to the Hanged Man."

"I'm sure that the Hanged Man is a perfectly acceptable business, but that is a really terrible name." Cullen snorts a snicker, trying not to fully laugh I suspect, but the Guard-Captain lets a hearty laugh escape as she begins to walk away.

"I'll speak with you later Cullen. Goodbye, Gaelea." I smile and wave at her as Cullen and I begin to finish our walk to the door. Traffic seems pretty heavy in this area, but most people seem to just change their path as we approach, I had previously assumed that it was because of Cullen's presence, but now I wonder whether it could be me they're all avoiding.

As we get to the doors Cullen ushers me ahead to pass through the door first. As I do so I experience the momentary blindness from the sun beaming overhead, but as my vision clears I see the vast city spread out beneath the Viscount's castle, with the glittering waters of the Waking Sea just in the distance.

On our walk through the city I see ruined buildings, evidence of fires and explosions, rubble in the streets, and many people. I see people cleaning, feeding others in long lines, people chatting idly, and some who just watch other people. I can see that the state of the city is very clearly a fair reason to want to stem the flow of people into the city to those who strictly have people inside who need them.

Part of me desperately wants to help get this city back on its feet, but it is hushed by the part of me that knows I need to get home.

We go down some stairs into a decidedly less wealthy area of the city. Cullen calls this area Lowtown and that it tends to be where the more illicit activities generally take place. He warns me to be careful of myself in this area.

We approach a building with a sign that says, 'The Hanged Man' and appropriately the sign sports the image of a hung man. Comforting.

"Here we are, Brenawyn should be inside waiting for you still." Cullen stops and looks at me wit his captivating topaz eyes.

"Thank you, Cullen…" I pause for a moment, on the way here I had realized that Cullen is the Knight-Captain of the remaining Templar forces to what used to be the Circle of Kirkwall and have since been trying to think of a way to ask about magic pertaining to the Fade. "Say Cullen," He looks at me inquisitively and I take that as my cue to continue, "Are you aware of any people or tomes that may pertain to information on the Fade?" For a moment he looks surprised by my query but catches his footing pretty quickly.

"Well, almost all of the mages have, understandably, fled Kirkwall. I could ask around my men to see if they have any information for you, but I can guarantee nothing." Hmm… Well, that's about all I've been working from this whole time anyway, seeing as I can't reach the one person who could likely help me… i.e. Flemeth. Cullen's hand moves up behind his neck, "For that I could come and collect you tomorrow and bring you to the Gallows where the Circle had been based for you to talk with anyone who might be able to help or perhaps even find a book or two." He kind of looks around before his eyes come back to me.

"I would love to have guide tomorrow as well then." For a moment, Cullen freezes, then a quick smile before he clears his throat.

"Well, then… I… Uh… I shall see you tomorrow." Another quick bow before he turns and walks away.

I watch him for as long as I dare before turning to enter the Hanged Man.

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 **Thanks for reading this chapter! Hope you are looking forward to the next!**


	18. Possibilities of a New Life

**Hello everyone!**

 **Again with the really long absence, I'm sorry! I have struggled writing one scene in this chapter for months! Thank you for your patience with me.**

 **I have been looking forward to this chapter for so long and am so excited to finally have it done!**

 **I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did writing it!**

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I enter the city proper again, arriving from the Gallows for the fourth day in a row. Unsurprisingly, I have still had no luck. Not a scrap of information on the Fade was left untouched at the Circle. On the first day, Cullen had brought me to the Gallows and introduced me to a few of the Templars who still guard the area, keeping out scavengers or other people with less than honorable intentions. I don't remember most of their names but after four days of non-stop searching I can remember their faces.

During the evening on the third day, I met up with Fen'Harel in the Fade. He helped me iron out a few ways of keeping my magic on the downlow and we debate new ways to keep my weapons in functioning state while using my magic through the blades. We have spoken a few times in the Fade since Fenris had rescued me, but they are generally few and far between. Fen'Harel has mentioned being busy with some stuff and since I've been travelling with Brenawyn, who would most certainly not understand, and so this keeps our meeting so scarce. Although, I will admit that I sometimes find myself missing his company, like I moved away from a good friend who I only get to see once in a while.

Cullen had told me on my second day that there is still a lot of fighting between mages and some of the templars inside the city. He said that he has been working with Captain Aveline and a few others to quell the fighting, kicking out any who start squabbles or worse, but it doesn't seem to alleviate any of tension inside the city. Cullen mentioned that the only thing that has really helped so far is the decision they made to stem the flow of people into the city. He mentioned that while the tension hasn't eased yet, in the past month or so since they closed the gates, the amount of people starting fights has lessened. As a side note, he added that there had been a record drop in fights since the bandits had been killed outside the west gate.

"I'm sorry that you were not successful today as well…" Cullen's apology catches me slightly off guard as we walk in the direction of Lowtown, where I have been helping some of the clean-up efforts to distract myself from the disappointing results of each day of searching.

"Oh, it isn't your fault, Cullen. It was sort of a long shot anyway." I try to smile past my complete and utter disappointment, he gives me a kind smile in return.

"I admit that I find it admirable that you have dedicated yourself so fully to finding information on the Fade." He pauses briefly, "May I ask why exactly you're looking for such specific information?"

I take a deep breath in, I mean, I knew that this question would come up eventually… But maybe he won't laugh immediately…

Another deep inhale, "Well… I'm trying to see if it's possible to travel using the Fade." I do my best to not sound like a maniac whilst talking about things that most people here find to be quite impossible.

"Hmm…" Oh boy, here it comes… "Well, I have never heard of anything like that… But it is my belief that only a fool would dismiss something outside his experience as impossible. Especially where the Fade and magic are concerned." Huh… I wouldn't have expected that kind of a response from anyone, he has to be the first person to not immediately dismiss me after hearing that. I feel a new sort of respect for Cullen grow in my mind. Also… I think I've heard something similar to that before… I just can't place my finger on where… "The closest thing I can think of is the Harrowing… Although even that only puts an mage initiate into a trance where their spirit enters the Fade."

Although, he does have a point about the whole magic and Fade being absolutely unpredictable. No doubt about that. At all.

"Thank you… Cullen." We stop at one of the spots that overlook the docks and other parts of the city and I look at Cullen. Just look. I feel my chest tighten, and as he turns and meets my eyes a trill passes through me. I have to turn away as I feel a blush bloom on my cheeks. I fake a cough as an excuse to turn further away. What on Earth… Er… Thedas.

I heft my bag from one shoulder to the other, trying to making the weight of the bag affect my shoulders a little less. I had gotten into the habit of making sure that everything is always inside my bag, so despite the inconvenience of the weight of the bag, I still need to use to carry the things I do need for my research.

As I turn to face Cullen again, with hopefully a little less colour to my cheeks. When, I see that his is turning to face behind us. There, I see a dwarf walking in our general direction.

"Curly! There you are." Curly? I look around to see who is responding to that, when it strikes me that Cullen is changing his stance. The dwarf, who stops before him, is wearing a red shirt that isn't buttoned up all the way and reveals more chest hair than I have ever seen. He has ginger orange hair that is smoothly combed back, multiple ear-piercings, and a chain around his neck that links at a large hoop over his collarbone. The eccentric looking dwarf notices that I am not walking away from Cullen, "Oh, my apologies, Curly, I didn't realize you were… Busy." I look between the two of them, Cullen looking a little exasperated but otherwise alright with this, and being called Curly…

"Yes, I have been helping Gaelea look through some of the tomes left behind by the mages for information on certain kinds of magic."

"Oh… I see." His gaze turns to me with an unsettling amount of analysis. "So, you are the famous lady who fended off half a troupe of attacking bandits, eh?" Oh, no… I just started to escape that with the Templars at the Gallows and the people in Lowtown… And here we go again.

"Please, call me Gaelea." I tip my head to him.

"And I am Varric Tethras, story-telling rogue, at your service." He over-dramatizes a bow to me, "You know, those odds you were facing were Hawke-worthy." Hawke? Cullen chuckles lightly at that remark.

He adds, "Captain Aveline said the same thing when I brought her into the barracks infirmary."

"Yeah, Hawke was always pulling stunts like that…" Varric says as he looks to be almost reminiscent about something, which I would maybe understand if I knew who this 'Hawke' is.

"Uhm… Who is Hawke?" The question gets fairly animated responses from both of them.

Varric pulls himself together first, "You haven't even heard his name before?"

"Um… No, I'm from… Very far away. Could you enlighten me?" Varric slightly tilts his head at me for a second, I can practically see the wheels turning in his mind, and it concerns me a little. This person is much more clever than he seems to immediately let on. He answers me right back

"Not in a couple of words, but he did end up being called the Champion of Kirkwall." Ah, now that I have heard since coming here. A lot of people talk about the Champion of Kirkwall, understandably.

"Oh… That title I've heard around here before." Varric's eyes linger on me for just a second before he turns back to Cullen.

"Curly, on the subject of Aveline, she was looking for you earlier. Asked me to keep an eye open and to send you her way if I see you. I happened to be on my way to the Hanged Man when I spotted you."

"Oh, I see. Well, then I best go find her straight away." Cullen responds rather finally, giving Varric a pointed look over something.

"Alright, alright, Curly. It was a pleasure meeting you, Gaelea." I tip my head again as he bows before walking off in the direction of the Hanged Man.

"I'm sorry I must leave you here, I suppose I shall see you tomorrow, then?"

"Certainly. Same place, same time?" I ask him jokingly.

He laughs, I feel a slight blush colour my cheeks, "I suppose so. Have a good evening." He turns around and walks over to the stairs that lead out of Lowtown.

Again, I watch him as long as I can.

After he is out of sight I begin to make my way over to the Hanged Man. As I round the corner of the street where the Hanged Man is I see someone leaning against the wall. I look over at them briefly as I pass and realize that it is Varric leaning against the wall.

I take my last step back and look at him, "I thought you would have already made it to the Hanged Man."

"Oh, and I would have, had I been going there in the first place." As he says that I wonder about his intentions, he seems to be well intentioned, but I literally just met him.

"Oh, don't look so worried. I'm here as a favor to Aveline."

"Really? A Favor for Aveline? About what?"

"She mentioned that there are rumors amongst her guards that you have been picking through the remains at the Gallows for some kind of special magic. She thinks that you should meet a mutual friend of ours who might be able to help you. Although, Curly being the Knight-Captain of the Templars could potentially complicate it as the person is a known apostate." He takes a few steps forward and beckons me to follow. I hesitate but then follow him, who knows, maybe this mutual friend could really help me and if I don't follow I'll never know.

"Lead on, storyteller." He chuckles a little.

"Remind me later to give you a copy of my story of the Champion of Kirkwall. With your fighting habits I imagine that you would find it enjoyable and maybe even a little educational."

We walk for a while, I am not very familiar with the area, but I know that the alienage that the elves live in is in this general direction.

After a couple of minutes of silence Varric, smiles over at me, "Is everything alright?" I ask and he just chuckles.

"You and Curly, eh?"

"What?" I splutter a few sounds that I can't even make sense of before I manage, "I—What exactly do you mean?"

"Oh, I think you know what I mean…"

I splutter a couple more unintelligible words until I can sort out a sentence, "We haven't even known each other for a week yet…" I can feel the heart of a deep blush not just on my cheeks but my entire face and even ears.

"It's happened with less before. Besides, Curly could use the excitement. He spends too much time with that serious expression on his face." He chuckles lightly as he looks over at me and then lets the conversation fade while I'm left with the gears in my head turning at overload.

"I don't know how well you will get along with Daisy, but I imagine that you two will be just fine." Varric says as we walk along a road and turn onto some stair going downwards. Daisy? I wonder if this has any relation to Cullen's designation as 'Curly,' or if their name is actually Daisy.

We get to a landing and turn to go down another set of stairs, and when I look up I am greeted with the sight of the center of the alienage. The first thing I see is a huge tree right at the center of the space before us. Varric stops a second to let me gape at the sight, before he motions closing his mouth with his hand and then waves me to follow as he begins walking again.

We go around the right side of the tree where there is another over look of the dock areas. He leads me towards the building nearest the overlook past the tree. Walks right up to the door and knocks. I here a clatter inside and someone exclaim in surprise.

A muffled "Hold on just a minute!" Varric only snickers at it.

"Ah, Daisy…" He takes a step back from the door, and moments later it opens to reveal a young looking elven girl with short black hair, large green eyes and dark green Vallaslin that take the shape of vines over the pale skin on her face.

"Oh, Varric, lovely to see you. What can I do for you this—" She stops as her eyes fall to me.

"This is Gaelea. May we come in, Daisy?"

"Oh, of course. Come in." She steps aside to let us step in.

Inside her home is about as modest looking as the outside. She has few furnishings, mainly the essentials, a table with a couple of chairs at it, some shelves, a fireplace, and a few other things spread about the space with a hallway and separate room to the right.

Merrill comes right over to me with almost a skip, "So you're Gaelea! I've heard about you! You're the one who fought those bandits, right?" Her accent sound Welsh or rather whatever the equivalent is here. "My name is Merrill. Pleased to meet you!"

Ah, confirmation, 'Daisy' is a Varric-designation. I'm wonder just how many people have Varric-designations…

"Pleasure to meet you too, Merrill."

Varric steps over to us, "Gaelea has been looking into unique kinds of magic and Aveline thought that you night be able to help our friend here."

I look at Varric, "I've hardly known you for an hour, I don't really know if we're quite friends yet. Especially if that means I receive a nickname…"

He places a hand over his chest, "You wound me… Don't worry, you won't get a nickname until I think of a suitable one, just for you." Hmm…. I don't know if I like the sound of that. "Either way, I need to get back to some other stuff, so I'll leave you two to it." Varric walks over to the door and waves before he walks out the door, Merrill waves as he leaves.

"So, you were looking to learn about some magic? Did Varric tell you I'm a mage then?" She walks over to the table and gestures for me to sit down.

"He did mention that you are a mage…" I look at her as she takes the chair across from me, "But I think you should know that the kind of magic I've been looking has lead me only to dead ends so far."

"Well, that doesn't mean you should give up yet! What kind of magic are you trying to learn about?" Oh man, I did not predict having to tell this to two separate people today… Although, it is certainly encouraging with how Cullen reacted.

"I've been… Trying to see if there is a kind of magic that…" I try to find the words that will make it seem a little less outlandish.

"Well, come then, spit it out." She says it with a tine that says that she will at least try not to laugh.

"Magic that can let you physically travel through the Fade." While she doesn't laugh, she doesn't hide the confusion on her face.

"Hmm… Sorry to say that I've never heard of anything like that before either, although there are more than a couple kind of magic that allow for communication between different places…"

We talk for a few minutes about what kinds of magic are typical to both the Circles and the Dalish tribes. She was surprised to learn that I had spent time with a Dalish clan. I couldn't very well say that I was from that clan when it's obvious that I don't have any Vallaslin. I may be able to pull that with people who are more ignorant but not with Merrill. She gives the impression that she is innocent and naïve, but there is something in the way she talks about magic that tells a different story…

After a while of chatting, I find that there is a pressure in the space and that something is pulling at my mind. I can't help but turn and look in the direction a few times and it doesn't get past Merrill.

I see her kind of narrow her large eyes at me, "Could you be…" She says it at almost a whisper, practically to herself more than anything.

"Merrill, is something wrong?" I ask, I wonder if I should have said anything at all.

"I just…" Her eyes look over to where the tugging sensation leads me, "Could it be that you're also a mage?" Blindsided. Holy shit. How in Heaven's name did she guess something like that?

"Merrill, what makes you say that?" I'm not going to confirm until she tells me what tipped her off. Suddenly, I find my guard going up, subconsciously more than anything.

"Well, it's just, you keep looking over to my bedroom and I can't think of another reason that you might know there's something over there." Hmm… I think carefully for a few seconds and decide that if I never trust anyone, the likelihood of me getting home is unlikely.

"I… Am a mage."

"Well, that explains a lot. I thought you seemed different." She stands up, "Well, come on. If you can feel there no sense in not showing you."

I stand up as well and we begin to walk towards the source of the pulling sensation. We walk across the space of her home and into what appears to be her bedroom.

It is as modest as the rest of her home, to the exception of the ornate mirror in the right corner. Once my eyes settle on the mirror I can tell that it is the source of the whatever this feeling is. As I stare at it, I could swear the reflective surface is shifting. Although, I'm not sure if it is just a trick of the candle light or not.

"What is that?" I ask as we approach it.

"It's an eluvian." I get as close as I dare the sensation almost drowning everything else as I stare deeply into the reflection. Mostly I just see a warped version of myself, but once in a while a flash of something else. A place… Foggy and distant. In one flash of it, I think I see other mirrors, but it is a warped image at best.

Merrill's light voice gets me to stop staring into the mirror, "Well, it isn't exactly an eluvian. I constructed this with a shard of an eluvian from where my clan lived before the Blight." I look at her, and she concludes with, "It doesn't really work though, not the way it's supposed to."

"I don't know about that…" turn my body away from the eluvian to face her, "What is a real eluvian supposed to do?"

"They are grand mirrors that were left behind by the ancient elves. No one is completely sure what they were used for, but in my research, I found that one possibility is that they were used to communicate across great distances."

Hmm… Not a lot of the things I have found look at the magic used by the ancient elves. Flemeth is more the person I would direct a question like that to.

I think about how long I've been here and realize that it is likely getting quite late. As in, it has likely gotten to the point where I might have to watch my back on the way to the Hanged Man. Presuming I don't get lost in the changing quality of light.

"We will have to finish talking about this tomorrow sometime… I think it might be getting too late." I say and she kind of perks up a little.

"Oh, yes. Varric might scold you if he finds out you were wandering around Lowtown so late!" Hmm… Varric scolding me isn't exactly what I meant but I'll leave it at that.

"Uh… Yeah…" We walk over to the door that opens into the alienage. "Anyway, I will see you tomorrow sometime, Merrill." I turn and open the door, "And… It was really good to meet you."

"Oh yes! You as well Gaelea! I look forward to visiting again." I walk out and wave as I walk away.

I stroll around the tree, looking up into the branches, scarcely able to see the darkening sky through them.

The torches have already been lit in this area, not as effective as street lights but doing the same job. I start up the stairs out of the alienage and as I reach the top I see a familiar shadow.

"Brenawyn?" The shadow turns to reveal someone else standing there as well.

"Gaelea? I didn't know you were in the alienage this evening." She says goodbye to the other person and they bow their head briefly towards me and go off down a dark alley. "Are you heading back to the Hanged Man?"

"Yeah, you?" She nods and we both start walking back to the tavern.

After walking for a couple of minutes she starts with, "That man was telling me that there is a ship to Ostwick leaving tomorrow in the early evening. He also said that there might be some mages out that way who might be able to help you. Did you end up finding anything here?"

"Actually, I may have found something close. I don't think it's quite right, but it's the closest I've been yet. But… I think I need more than a couple of days to really figure it out." I glance over at Brenawyn, she smiles at me.

"If you just need a couple of extra days I'm sure I can wait. My family supposedly is still in Ostwick, I'm sure they won't be leaving any time soon."

"Thank you, Brenawyn."

We get back to the Hanged Man, we both enjoy a late supper and we chat over a game of cards. She had been steadily teaching me the rules of the card game, not that I'm any good at it. After we chat we both go to our rooms to finish the day.

Although, I find sleep eluding me with everything that developed during the day.

From what Varric had said about Cullen and I… I toy with the idea that maybe I feel something for him, the thought brings a tingle of excitement to my chest, even though I'm sure he doesn't feel the same way about me.

To actually finding a lead on some kind of magic that might lead to what I'm looking for; a way home. I roll over in my bed, what if I never get there? I think of all the people I have met over the last few days and even just today having met Varric and Merrill. Thinking of the last couple of days gives me a warmth that I haven't felt since I arrived here.

Maybe… Just maybe, I could make a life for myself here. I will at least need these couple of days to figure out how I feel about all of this. I never was the person to dive headfirst into something like this, never the person to leap at the first chance. I have always been the type to deliberate and decide carefully on this kind of decision, which is maybe why I ended up being single for so long.

To make the decision to stay here… If not until I can get home, maybe even for the rest of my life. I play with what could happen if I do stay here, what kind of a life I could lead… Maybe even with Cullen.

With all of these possibilities flying around in my mind, it takes a while, but I fall asleep. Dreams of the future and my choices playing out in dreams.

* * *

In the morning, I make my way down to the tavern of the Hanged Man. I find that I have arrived before Brenawyn this morning which is unusual, on a regular day she would have already been down enjoying something to eat. Shrugging to myself, I find my way to an empty table and the barmaid brings a drink and asks if I'm having my usual.

After a few more minutes, Brenawyn finds her way to the table I'm sitting at. I gather my thoughts on my decision from when I was laying awake in my bed.

"Morning."

"G'morning" She mumbles as though she hardly got any sleep last night. The barmaid brings by a drink for her and confirms what she and I want to eat.

I give her a few minutes to really wake up and for our small meals to arrive before I go into what I want to say. Seeing as it will be a fairly substantial change for her plans.

"So, I thought about it some more last night and I think I changed my mind." Brenawyn looks up at me with an expression of deep curiosity.

"Oh, what about?"

"I think that I might actually want to stay here for a little longer. I haven't decided how long yet, but it will likely be longer than a couple of weeks. So, you don't have to wait here for me, you should get on that ship to Ostwick this evening." I can see her thinking about it for a couple of minutes before she answers.

"Alright, I won't wait for you this time, but I'm sure our paths will cross again." She smiles at me warmly.

"I certainly hope they do, and before too long. I also hope that you find your family."

"As payment though you must come see me off at the docks this evening. Meet me here before I head down, and we can go together. The ship is leaving at sunset so be sure to get here before then."

"Alright, I'll be sure to finish up with my search a little early today."

She smiles over at me, "I imagine that Knight-Captain Cullen is going to help you today, again, right?"

"Well, yeah. He makes sure that the Templars guarding the entrance to the Gallows don't give me a hard time." She narrows her eyes at me. "What?"

"Surely, he could simply tell the guards at the entrance, let them know to expect you." She purses her lips in my direction, "So why does he escort you into the Gallows every time?" Her grin turns sly and I take a long swig of my drink, "I wonder if it couldn't be to spend more time with you…"

I almost spew out the liquid in my mouth, but swallow it hard instead, "I—I… Don't know what you're talking about." I force out those words between coughs. "He is only being courteous and making sure that I make from here to there." I take another full drink and put the empty tankard on the table, "Plus I'm sure he's spoken for anyway." I falter in what I was going to say next.

The way it had just come out… That was exactly the way I had always said the same thing to Arry.

Brenawyn rebuttals immediately, "I don't know, that behaviour is pretty convincing. Why I wouldn't be surprised if your Knight-Captain comes all the way here to pick you up today."

As though she were telling the future not a couple minutes of silence later, a certain well-armored, blond Knight-Captain comes through the door of the Hanged Man and after a couple moments of looking around comes straight to our table. Brenawyn wearing a smug look of victory the whole time.

She is going to be insufferable later…

"I'll be right back! I'm going to grab my bag and I'll be right back down."

I hustle up the stairs and into my room, I snatch my bag off the chair and hustle straight back the way I came. I give Brenawyn a quick goodbye, avoiding eye contact because I know that she is giving a look.

We both step out of the tavern into the late morning sun.

After a couple of minutes just walking I realize that we aren't heading in the direction of the ship to the Gallows. I look over at Cullen who has a strangely sheepish look on his face as he rubs the back of his neck.

"Uh… Cullen, where are we going?" He looks away for a moment before turning his head to face me while we walk forward.

"Well… I—Uh…" His hand leaves the back of his neck and he clears his throat. "I thought that perhaps you might like to see some of Kirkwall other than what's left of the inside of the Gallows…" I love how he starts off with a bit of stuttering before he catches his bearings and takes off smooth as ever. "I… If it's too much trouble we can head over to the ship…"

"Oh, no! A day doing something else is probably good for me…" I pull a lock of my hair forward and start to fiddle with it between my fingers; twisting, rubbing, and bringing it up to my lips.

He looks slightly down at me, "I'm glad to hear that." Almost as if it just slipped out like a sigh of relief.

The afternoon passes in a blur, we chat, walk, we meet a few people, and he even takes me to a small market within the city where a food vendor gives us some pastries.

We walk through the city, Cullen leading the way the whole time. He tells me about some of the buildings we go by. He leads us to the gate of the city that leads into the makeshift market that Brenawyn and I had camped in when we first arrived at the city. We wander through lazily the merchants shouting their wares or haggling with a patron. A few of them take notice of Cullen and I, some of them just stare others incline their heads towards us.

After a couple of minutes, a small person, and I don't mean Varric, bounds down the road towards us.

The small person yells at the top of their lungs, "GAELEA!" As I see the figure of the child who had sat with me the night of the attack, Genevieve, getting closer to us. In an unexpected turn instead coming to a stop before us, she plows straight into my middle taking us both to the ground as her arms grasp me.

I blink a couple of times to gather my bearings, "Genevieve…" I sit us both up, "I'm glad to see you, too." She does not relent in her near python-like grip around my waist.

One final squeeze before she stands herself up in front of me, "Gaelea, we heard what you did the other night…" She looks up at me as I stand up myself, "You know… When you told me to run to the gates…"

"I know which night you're talking about. I'm glad to see that you made it safely, I was a little worried that they might have snuck past me." She gives me another, quicker, hug before what appear to be her parents make it over to us. One of them is the merchant who had been giving the gate guards a hard time when Brenawyn and I had arrived at Kirkwall seeing them in the same place now, I can see that the merchant has the same brown hair as Genevieve. The other is a woman who must be Genevieve's mother, she has darker brown hair with clear, ocean blue eyes which is evidently what she passed on to her daughter.

"Please excuse my petite Genevieve, we tried to keep her from running, but alas she escaped us." The woman chuckles lightly, her speech thick with an Orlesian accent. "Geneviève, que dit-tu à Gaelea?" She says with a slightly chastising tone. I remember this much at least, she said to Genevieve 'What do you say to Gaelea?'

"Oh!" Genevieve turns to fully face me and bows from her waist, "Thank you for saving us, Gaelea." I hadn't noticed in the night that Genevieve had a slight Orlesian accent, it isn't as thick as he mother or father's, but it is there.

"De rien, Geneviève." I reply in the best French I can muster. I imagine that my French sounds terrible after so long not speaking it, honestly, I'm lucking that I remember as much as I do.

"Oh! Vous pouvez parler en Orlesien?" The mother immediately switches into deep Orlesian testing the limits of my abilities. I believe she said, 'You can speak in Orlesian?'

So I answer, "Not as well as I would like I'm afraid. I learnt in my youth but until very recently it mostly went unused. In my travels through the edges of Orlais I have recalled some of it though."

"Regardless, it is refreshing to see someone try outside of Orlais." The mother responds, "I beg your pardon, I am Genevieve's mother, Jaqueline, and this is my husband Raoul Malenfant." She takes her daughter by the shoulders and they all bow again, "We would also like to thank you for your actions that night."

I am momentarily taken aback, I hadn't done all that just to save them and so I never felt as though I deserved to be thanked. Sure, it had definitely been a factor, but something I have been trying to ignore is that there was a part of me that revelled in being able to bring some level of retribution to the bandits who had been planning such terror for the people outside the city. My mind recoils at having worded that underhanded desire so plainly... A desire that almost seems monstrous.

"No, really, I only did what I could." After all that we bid the three of them farewell and continue on our way.

We walk through the market to the very end of it, I now understand the reason behind all the people who had been looking at us earlier. I thought that once we had reached the end we would simply turn back and perhaps buy something on the way back to the city, but Cullen continues to lead us away from the city on the road.

Before I can say anything Cullen bursts out, as though he had been mustering up the gusto to say it for a while now, "The cliffs are spectacular when they aren't crawling with bandits and thieves." He keeps his face pointing forwards as we walk on, "I… Ah—Well, I thought that perhaps you might like to see them."

I look out to the Waking Sea and the near cloudless sky above us, "Alright, as long as I won't have to fight any of those aforementioned ne'er-do-wells." He chuckles lightly, "Khedra would not be pleased to see my come back to tend any scrapes or otherwise."

"Yes, I don't imagine she would be much more pleased with me for having brought you there, but I assure you we cleared out the cliffsides very thoroughly."

After a couple more minutes of walking he takes us off the main road and onto a side path that leads up over a small, rocky hill. We chat off and on, sometimes talking without end, other times walking in a comfortable silence.

It takes about thirty more minutes before we come to an outlook. The outlook is a jagged rock that sticks straight out from the main cliff that is opening up before us. Stepping out onto the viewpoint allows for a view of the sea and Kirkwall. I see the ships entering and exiting the docks, the grand statues with the chains leading to the central tower.

"This is a great view of the city," I turn to look south across the sea, "and the sea, of course…" I let my eyes wander a little further to my right where Cullen is standing, only to find that he is actually looking at me. I turn back to the sea briskly to hide the blush I can feel starting at the back of my neck.

"I… Uh…" Hearing him, I turn a little to peek at him. The sight I see causes me to struggle to supress a smile. That sight? Cullen is facing slightly away from me, head angled upward and hand rubbing at the back of his neck. I bit my lip as a tingling sensation grips my middle and I scour my mind for topics to bring up.

"So, Cullen… Uh… How did you become a Templar in the first place?" He turns to fully face me again, his expression changing from slight confusion to a soft but genuine smile.

"I suppose I first wanted it for myself as a child, I had been so desperate to help others and the Templar Order seemed the best way to do it." He chuckles lightly, I know I had heard a rumor about him having been at the Circle when it fell during the Blight. I didn't know the event by name, but it sounded as though it would have been a grave and scarring experience. I wondered if maybe I should abandon this topic, but he seemed to want to talk about it, as he continues, "I used to beg the Templars at the local Chantry to teach me. I suppose I was stubborn enough, because some of the Templars there humored me by teaching me some things."

We start walking down the cliffside path again, away from the city. I mostly watch where I'm walking, with quick peeks sideways at Cullen as he strides smoothly beside me, "When I was thirteen, a Knight-Captain came to my town and saw how hard I was working. He told me that he would accept me into the training program for the Templars, and he even spoke to my parents on my behalf about everything."

"Really? You left your home and family at thirteen?" I look over at him, holding my gaze this time instead just sneaking quick peeks.

"That may be young, but I wasn't the youngest there." Wow… So, some Templars have likely known nothing else… For their entire lives probably. I think back to when I change my study focus that caused my parents and I to have our falling out and I scoff at myself. Cullen looks over, "What? Is it really that unbelievable?" I think I hear a twinge of sarcasm but with the question being a genuine one.

"Oh, no… It's just…" I pause, I can't just tell him everything so I have to find a way to put all of that into Thedas version of events… "Well… I suppose I come from a fairly rich family from my area… They control a lot of what goes on in that area. So, I didn't leave my home until I was almost twenty." I pause a moment again, "Even then, it wasn't because my parents had encouraged me to follow what I want to do." I take it slowly, trying to choose my words carefully to make it as Thedosian as possible, "I had been going for my education as my parents had… Dictated. But, it held no meaning for me and the further in I got… The more… Empty I started to feel, it was like every day whittled me a little bit smaller and less myself."

I press my fingers together in front of me, "It was really a total fluke that I found art… And when I told my parents that art was what I wanted to do, they refuted it. They told me that our family is not meant to make art but rather to work on bring the world to the future." I wince, I don't know if that statement wouldn't really mean much here, but I make myself continue, "I had almost given in, but then one night I imagined my future if I listened to them… It was grey and dark and cold."

I take a deep breath in, I can still remember that cold emptiness that had set in at the time. Though now, honestly, that all seems so trivial. "When I next confronted my parents on the issue… They told that if I intended on wasting my life as an artist then I can leave the family and do it on my own… Without their help or their money." I let a little sigh escape, "Either way, I suppose all of that did lead me to where I am now, so… I guess it's not all bad." I try to sneak another peek at him only to have our eyes meet fully again.

He stops, and I stop and turn to him, out of the corner of my eye I see his hand start rise towards me. A fluttering feeling fills my chest and my mind starts to race. _What do I even do in this situation?_ It is about halfway to me when the crunching of the rocks on the path behind us cause his hand to drop again as he turns to face the guards coming around the bend in the path.

They greet him, addressing him as Knight-Captain and as they pass me and two of them address me as miss, while the third addresses me a ma'am. Huh… Ma'am. I didn't think that nearly twenty-six was old enough for ma'am… Oh well…

After they pass, Cullen offers his arm for is to continue our walk, although he can't seem to make eye contact again. Not that I think I would be able to hold it anyway… I have force my legs forward a little; nervousness trying to hold them back, until I loop my hand over to his forearm and we begin to walk forward again.

We walk in silence for a while, but then once we start chatting again, things smooth over and I find that we chat all the way back to Kirkwall.

He ends up delivering back to the Hanged Man only just a little bit late, with an impatient looking Brenawyn waiting near the door.

Before we get all the way to the door he stops and takes a light grasp of my hand, my heart beating impossibly fast as I look from our hands to his face.

"I… Ah…" He releases my hand to rub the back of his neck and I can't stop the near giddy smile from stretching across my lips, "Did you enjoy your time today?" He cautiously looks over at me.

"Yes, I really did, I had a wonderful time." I see his expression change into one of almost surprise but slowly morphing into happiness. When I had first seen him, he looked as though his life had already drained him of energy, but that look is almost erased from his face.

"In that case, perhaps we could… Do this again, another day. Perhaps when you do not have a curfew." He chuckles, another change has been the tone of his chuckle… I wonder if they had been forced before, but now they all sound so genuine.

"I… I would love that. I mean— That sounds great." I bite my lip and look up at him.

"Then I shall look forward to it," he suddenly pulls out, smooth as satin, as he leans down and gives a gentle kiss on my cheek. It is all I can do not to buckle at my knees as he stands back up and walks away.

I walk the rest of the way to the Hanged Man in a bit of a daze, until Brenawyn comes up beside and grabs my hand, "Hurry! The ship is going to leave soon and unlike you I do need to be on it!" This successfully pulls me out of my romantic stupor. "Tell me about your day on the way down to the dock where the ship is waiting."

"Sorry for making you late, we didn't realize how much time had passed." As I start canter along beside her I recount the events of the day and at the end she makes a shocked face.

"Wow! It almost makes me want to stay here to see how this all plays out…" I had lost track of where we were going, all I know is that this area seemed to take a lot of turns to get to and seemed really out of the way for a dock. She sees me looking around suspiciously, "Oh, don't worry! The ship I'm getting on is actually captained by an old friend of mine that I know from my smuggling days. That's why he is docked in a weirder location, helps to keep his operation lesser known." Oh… I suppose that makes sense.

Brenawyn continues our conversation with, "I guess this just means that you will have to keep writing me letters with updates at least every fortnight."

I make an exaggerated 'thinking about it' pose before I answer, "Of course. And depending on how it turns out, I may not try to get to Ostwick at all." I had mused about it last night, but after the kiss on my cheek a future of me staying here and living out my life here in Thedas seems warmer and less bleak than it did a few weeks ago.

We round yet another corner when some docks and a ship is finally in view.

"There it is!" Brenawyn pulls me onwards. Then a sickening feeling hits me in the stomach like a ton of bricks. Something is off here. My eyes dart around the area, aside from seeming like a generally sketchy area meant for backdoor deals and smuggling I don't immediately see any threats though. Maybe it's just this atmosphere in the area that is making me paranoid.

"Come on, you can say goodbye to me up by the ramp onto the ship."

As we get to a point about ten feet away from the ramp, shadows rise from the deck of the ship. Weapons drawn. I stop dead and look at Brenawyn with expectation that she will signal them somehow.

When she doesn't do anything at all I step between her and the ramp and reach to draw my swords.

Then the world freezes around us as I feel a point make contact at the small of my back.

I look over my shoulder, knowing that I didn't let someone hostile approach me from behind. The only person there is…

Brenawyn.

* * *

 **Again, thanks for reading Sophi's story!**

 **I would love to hear your feedback or thoughts on any of what I write! (Especially since I am not very dating-savvy and would love feedback on that stuff and how the Bioware characters.**


	19. Shattered

**Welcome back everyone! Thank you for reading this far in Sophi's story! This part is leading in to some parts I have been incredibly excited to write for a long time. So I hope that you enjoy reading them! And thank you for reading!**

 **Although she has been waiting for me to catch up Lady Audentium's side of this story with Arryn Mauntelle is of course always a good read!**

 **Again, thanks for reading and enjoy!**

* * *

Looking over my right shoulder, I see Brenawyn.

She has an expression on her face that I have never seen before. It is cold and barren of any emotional connection to me.

I can still feel the tip of her dagger in my back, my hands frozen with a tight grip on the hilts of my swords. The silence around us deafening as all I can hear is the hammering of my own heart.

 _What is happening? I need to move… I need to get away from here!_

My legs are frozen. My hands are frozen. Even my mind has gone still with shock.

"Let go of the swords." Brenawyn's voice cuts through the silence of her betrayal like the cold steel of her dagger at my back. "And get on your knees." I keep eye contact with her, without letting go. I can't. My hands won't listen. I can't.

With another press of her dagger into my back, "Let. Them. Go."

"Having some trouble, Miss Brenawyn?" Without turning my head, I direct my gaze to the ship where the voice is coming from. I can't see the man it came from but there are two people standing apart from the rest of the armed crew.

Then it hits me. What if they are blackmailing Brenawyn just like they did to Sorcha. What if she did find her family here being held by these people?

My previously stalled out mind kicks in and starts running at a million miles per hours. I release my grip on the swords and start going down to my knees, when one muscle bound, armed guy closes the distance between us and shoves me down the rest of the way. I manage to stifle the grunt that comes from making harder impact on the dock than I had intended. I feel the cold line of Brenawyn's dagger come to my neck instead of at my back. Yeesh, she's really going for it… I wonder why she didn't just tell me about this. Surely, she would know that I'd help her if she needed it, right?

I only start to open my mouth when the same man on the ship speaks again, "Ah, there we go." I clench my fists, I don't know how much of that guy I'll be able to take before Brenawyn and I get ourselves out of this situation. "I was wondering whether you would be holding up your end of this arrangement." I imagine that his side of the arrangement is probably something that he took from her.

The man strides slowly over to the ramp onto the dock that ends right before us. I can see him a little better now, even though the light is dying due to the setting sun. He is wearing ornate looking robes that are white with blue and purple. The style of them reminds of something, so close to being remembered but I just can't put my finger on it. His hair is a very dark brown and his skin has a mid-tone olive. Although, I can't quite see his eyes.

"Now, I had been concerned as to whether or not you had found the true object of our bounty. So, naturally before we proceed we have to investigate. After all, not just any blonde, elvhen mage will do the trick we need to see." Shit. I haven't even used any flashy magic since we crossed the border, how could he know that? He strolls down the ramp at a torturously slow rate.

The other man who stayed on the ship pipes up, "And exactly how can you tell that this is the blondie you've been tearing Thedas apart to find? There must be a heap of other blonde mages like this one." Seriously? They've been searching for me this whole time?

The man just passes the halfway point of the ramp and pulls something out of a pocket in his robe, it glints in the in the setting sun as he swings it in his hand. I squint trying to see what it is, but I can't get a clear view of it as it swings.

As he gets closer to us, it hits me as to how they are going to be able to tell exactly who I am. Flashes of Dorian's cold and hungry expression fill my mind as I remember the first time we had met, and he used a dagger to cut the back of my shirt open.

One of the other men behind us came up and grabbed me from behind by my neck. He has a firm grip with his fingers lightly pressing against the right side of my neck. Brenawyn removes her dagger from my neck and steps away.

"What? Don't you trust my word?" Brenawyn says as she steps behind me, shifting her dagger in her grip.

No…

She wouldn't. She is…

No. She is someone I met a couple of months ago.

How could I be so… Naïve? Trust here is so fragile.

I hear the jingle of coins, I look up to see the man is holding a sizable bag of money in his other hand. Brenawyn is not like Sorcha. Brenawyn is getting paid. Getting paid for taking me to them.

"You know, I thought about deducting for changing the pick-up location on such short notice like that. We had originally agreed on Ostwick." Ostwick… Was it all a lie? The whole thing?

The man stops in front of us. He begins to wave his hand at the one of the other men. I hear the words 'bounty,' 'payment' and 'manipulation' being used but how did all this happen? How did I let this happen?

I won't just let this happen. Not this time.

I take a deep breath in and reach out to my magic. I am met with a tempest of power.

But… I look up at the people closing in around me. I look to my right, seeing the overlooks at the various points of the city.

No. I can't just let my magic explode here. Not in this city that so recently had to face such horror because of magic. I reign it back in and pull it under my control again; looking down to focus on the task.

Although, I can't just do nothing. Otherwise, I might as well toss all of the other chances I have been given into the abyss. Fenris' efforts to keep me from the slavers, wasted. The Isenathavhen clan of elves' help; from healing me to getting me started on magic, swordsmanship, and archery. All wasted.

Bounty. Payment.

Manipulation.

I may have leashed my magic successfully, but my anger and hurt and betrayal are running rampant. The emotions humming through my mind causing my senses to feel disrupted and yet more clear than ever.

I see a pair of feet stop in front of me, and I look up to meet this new person's eyes. Except… When I do, all of a sudden, the entire dock of people is left clutching their chests and dropping to their knees. Seeing my chance, I stand up and make a break for it. A couple of the lackey types grab for my ankles but with them seeming to be struggling with shortness of breath they cannot hold onto my ankles and I make it past them.

I make it to the end of the dock and glance back to see that the head honcho type is recovering.

"STOP HER!" He shouts into the rest of the dock area. Surely there won't be that many people who would answer that. I imagine that it's obvious to passersby that I am escaping him and hence slavery.

But alas… I should have knocked on wood. Because a couple of large men step off the edge of the dock and into my path. They stretch their arms out to take up the entire path. I glance around the area and jump off the dock and use smaller boats to my right as stepping stones in some impromptu parkour attempt. I manage to bypass the two men and hop back onto the deck, running at full speed again. Just running, I don't even really know how we got down to this dock, let alone how to get back to the Hanged Man, or even a location I recognize.

I look up to the overlooks around the city again and I can hardly believe my eyes. I dodge past another person who reaches for me and look back to the overlook. After my second look I am certain of what I see there.

A mop of white hair. Fenris!

"FEN—" An explosion of pain on the right side of my head as I am knocked to the ground. Everything goes stark white for a second before going completely black for a couple more.

On the ground, I open my eyes to see that I am in a covered area out of sight from the overlooks. Only, everything is coming in and out of focus and there is a persistent ringing sound in my ears. I start to turn myself over, from my side to my front so that I can start to run again. Another burst of pain at the back of my head accompanied by a distinct 'thock' sound and an encompassing blackness.

* * *

As I come to, all I can feel is the throbbing in my head. I pull my hand to head, but my hand won't move. My hands are bound behind my back; shit. I open my eyes, finding that I am laying front down with my face to the side. My other senses begin to come back to me, which reveals the sensation of the cool air against my back. They've lifted my shirt up to show my back.

I test the binds around my wrists. They aren't chains, but by no means am I capable of just snapping these.

"Ah… Our guest is returning to us now." I hear the snapping of fingers followed by the feeling of the back of shirt getting tugged so that I'm in a sitting position. Then the man who spoke squats down in front of me, "You know… That has to be the most valiant escape attempt I've seen in a while and if it weren't for you being distracted, it would have worked." He grabs the collar of my shirt and pulls me right up to his face, "However, I will not tolerate another attempt like that." In this position I see that his eyes are a flat slate grey. He releases me, causing my shirt to fall back down my back, and stands back up. "I am Amulius Virilis. Although, I expect you to call me nothing less formal than Ser Virilis." In one hand he is still holding the item he had been swinging while walking down the ramp, it looks like an ornate piece of metal and it glints as he fiddles with the cord it hangs off of, "Ah, I see you've noticed my trinket here." He holds it up to my face, "I'm not sure whether you will recognize it, my prize, but this is tool that was used to so dramatically change your back." The 'custom' whip barb…

He pulls out a bag as he steps to my right and I can hear the jingle of coins from inside it, I turn my head to follow him and see Brenawyn. He places the bag of coins in her hand and she looks down at me. The haughty jeer she directs downwards at me causes my stomach to drop.

I look up at her, "When did you find out about this?" I ask her, thinking that her need to find her family fueled this as a means to fund her search.

"Oh, I've known this whole time." She leans down at her waist to get her face closer to mine, "I really couldn't believe my luck when I spotted you back in Lydes. I went straight back to my group of bounty hunters and we all devised this plan," She stands back up and the gravity of this really hits home for me. This whole time she has been playing me like a fiddle. Lydes… She's known since Lydes. Since before Fenris and I even separated. "You see, there is a group of people controlling the bounties and they told us about what your history with slavers is… See, we didn't like the chances of a frontal attack. Especially with that white-haired sword freak hanging around you." They pull me up so I'm standing, "But then you so graciously removed him from the picture, although we decided that it would still be a better plan to keep any frontal approaches to a minimum. Seeing how those bandits turned out last time, we made a good decision." Two other people walk over to her from the ship and the man hands them each a bag of coins, "And by the Maker, you couldn't have made this easier for us. So naïve… Really, I didn't know that people could be so clueless!" She laughs and the three of them walk away, while I am shoved towards the ship.

About halfway up the ramp my legs decide that enough is enough and stop moving all together. A jab at my back and push on my right shoulder tells me that the voices I can hear shouting want me to get a move on. But… This is not what I want. I don't want enslavement to some wealthy family in a world I don't truly understand. I want to keep my freedom. I want to keep my peace. I can hear more shouting, but the words don't make it to me. I can't tell if they are even speaking a language I understand or if my mind just isn't making sense of the words.

I do know that I will not cooperate any further. I dart my eyes left and right to look for any kind of possibility for escape. The splashing of the water is enticing, At least I could get away from them, but with my hands bound and fully clothed I'm not confident that I would be able the swim away, let alone keep myself afloat. Fuck it. I clench my fists, drop into a squat out of their hands and launch myself to the right through a space where no one is standing. However, a heavily muscled arm flashes out in front of me from my left and takes firm grasp of my right shoulder. I am then swung around and thrown onto the deck of the ship.

I land on my back and my breath is forced out leaving me gasping for air.

"I see that Dorian's reports were not lacking in detail on your fighting spirit." A snap of fingers and someone takes a fistful of my hair and pulls me up to face Amulius Virilis. "We shall see what we can do about that later. But for now, we just need you not to try escaping. Because you see it just makes my life more complicated than need be." This son of a bitch actually sounds bored. I notice how he has positioned himself over my legs

"Good luck with that." I bring my right knee and make contact with his stomach. With a grunt he falls backwards and lands on his ass clutching his middle. A swift blow to my face has my head whip to the side. Despite the pain, I feel nothing but a deep satisfaction in looking at jackass on the ground, hair fall out of his hairdo and robes askew as he holds his stomach. I only doubt my actions slightly when he finally looks up at me with a deep rage blazing behind his slate grey eyes as he stands up and strides towards me. I brace when I see him pull his leg back ready for when he launches it straight into my own stomach. But it never comes.

I open my eyes to see him pulling a small flask out of his robe; god dammit, I should have aimed a little higher.

Familiar with one possibility of the contents of that flask, how he said he would deal with my 'fighting spirit' later make that possibility all the more likely. As he steps forward with it in his right hand he uses his left to sleek back the stray hairs from when I kneed him. I try to push away or pull away but whoever is holding my hair has a grip of steel and it only gets harder when that bastard waves his hand suddenly there are people holding me down by the shoulders.

The moment I try to resort to my magic, I can feel it stifled for a moment as if my connection with my magic is somehow being stemmed. Past a couple of the crew I see him. He must have been a Templar, able to prevent a mage from using their magic. I reach further for my magic and it must become too much for him to stop because it answers me as a tsunami. I watch his expression change from an overwhelming confidence to utter shock. Only… It's a moment too late, as I feel a dagger get pressed against my exposed neck. When I don't immediately release my building magic, they press it a little harder into my neck, followed by the sensation of a dribble of blood down my neck.

I reluctantly relax myself and let my magic turn from a raging flood into a calm river.

Virilis, who had stopped some feet away, approaches uncorking the small flask of uncomfortably deep brown liquid. This time when my face is grasped, instead of resisting, I open my mouth. Only I stare him dead in the eye as he puts the flask to my lips, closes my mouth, and pours the vile contents in. My hearts pounds with fear, did I really exhaust my options? Is there nothing I could have done? My fear is that I have given in without real reason. My next immediate thought is to spew the contents of the flask back at his face, but he puts a hand over my mouth, stopping the liquid from coming out as I cough from the burning it leaves in my throat.

Everything starts to go in and out of focus, with the edges of my vision going black; but I never once break eye contact with him. I stare at him, his steel grey eyes to my forest green eyes, until the black edges of my vision pull me into a deep sleep.

* * *

As I crack my eyes open, the first thing I see are the bars above me and wood above that. Above what is presumably the cage I am in is a small round window allowing some light into the space. However, the only other illumination is that of a single torch on the wall opposite from me. I can feel the heaviness of shackles on my ankles as I lay on my back.

"I don't care what was said before! Virilis wants her in his office now!" I hear from the left of my cage, I close my eyes again hoping that feigning sleep will deter Virilis' attention for now.

Angry sounding footsteps get nearer until the sound of a door creaking open to my left brings the sounds of a couple of people, "You two, get her unshackled and out of the cage." So, three is the number I'm guessing. After a bit of a pause, of around two seconds, where nothing immediately happens the loud one shouts, "NOW!" This triggers the sounds of keys jangling against each other. Followed by the sound of the cage opening.

This could be my chance. If I can get on deck maybe I could get the attention of people on the other ships near Kirkwall!

I feel hands grab my ankles and I feel the shackles pop open with a click. Then another couple seconds of nothing before Loud shouts, "Well, come on! What are you waiting for? Permission?" God, Loud is sure irritating. I feel hands, surprisingly gentle hands, start working at lifting me. As soon as I feel two sets of hands, I fly into motion.

I use a small amount of magic to cause I flash with my hands, in this dim lighting it should at least make it difficult to see. I jump over the two who had been trying to lift me and body check Loud into the wall.

I see the open door to my left and run through it and down a narrow staircase. I tear through what I would assume is the cargo hold, with crates and other things lined up along the sides of the space. Seeing a wide staircase at the end of the space I race towards it, running faster than I ever did back home. A man comes out from between a couple of crates looking back and forth, and the moment I see I him I send him flying backwards with a blast of flames.

I sprint through the rest of the ship, going up any stairs I could find. Lungs burning and breath catching in my throat. Himsulem had given tips on breathing in these situations… Not that that's getting any use. I use ice magic to block the exit to what looks like a mess hall that a group of the sailors had been in. When I turn around, I see a wide staircase with a door at the top. I can hear them shouting on the other side of the ice and somewhere else nearby. I bolt for the door at the top of the stairs.

As I fling the door open, the dazzling light of a midday sun momentarily blinds me. I squint for a moment and run to the edge of the ship. But when I open my eyes fully, my stomach drops past my feet.

Water. Nothing but clear, pristine, and endless water. I turn around completely, desperately hoping to see even a speck of landmass, but to no avail. We are already in the middle of the sea or the ocean. The only thing to tell distance are the clouds forming on the horizon.

 _How long was I out for?_

A slow clap draws my attention in the direction of the helm of the ship. I glance right and see the bow of the ship, then I turn left to face the source of the clapping. Naturally, it's Virilis.

"I must say I am surprised that you managed to get this far!" He spreads his arms dramatically, "Although, as you can plainly see, that effort was entirely in vain." Armed sailors pour out of the door I just used, and I start backing up towards the bow. He whistles to the sailors who start approaching me. They start moving towards me as I back away. "Now, now… Where do you intend on going? We may have just entered its waters, but the Amaranthine Ocean is not kind."

I look at the edge of the ship, then over the edge to the dark, churning waters around the ship as it cuts its way through them. I imagine drowning would likely be a merciful death compared to whatever this sadist has planned for me.

I put one foot up on the railing between the ship's deck and the fairly considerable drop into the ocean and take hold of some of the ropes that hold the sails with my right hand, "And just what do you intend to do if I jump? Would there even be anything you can do? It isn't as if after jumping off I would simply let you take back on board." He glares for a moment and then someone comes up and whispers in his ear, and whatever was said literally turns his frown upside down.

With a new, nearly crazed look to his face he jeers at me, beckons someone forward, and says, "Well, you see, with all the reports that Dorian Falis gave to our superiors, and hence to myself, we know a thing or two about earning your cooperation." Dorian Falis? I had never heard anyone use his last name, but the flash of cold, dark eyes makes me wonder what he would have told them. Until I hear the sound of someone struggling makes my stomach sink. I feel ill when I see that they have a raggedly dressed young girl being dragged over to Virilis by the arm. The man holding the little girl's arm pausing by Virilis to listen to him before nodding and yanking the child's arm over to the edge of the ship; I feel my jaw drop open with disbelief. "You see… By his reports, we know that using a cart full of hostage slaves kept you mostly docile. This little girl is destined for slavery, although her value isn't very high for us, unlike you who may hold some very valuable information. So here are my offers to you, the choice is yours." He strides over to the girl and hold her face in my direction, "You are welcome to jump, but if you jump we are going to toss this little girl in with you. You could try to fight over to us, but in the time that you use to get here we will have thrown her over board, which will lead us to capture you. Or, my favourite, you stand down. In this option, the little slave will be spared the painful and lonely death of drowning in the ocean. You, however, will be giving up your chance at choosing your death."

I look at the ocean, the waves inviting me in; I would be scared to die but at least I would be free. An ear-piercing shriek brings my attention to the child as they yank her onto the edge of the ship almost dangling over the water. My eyes go back to the ocean. I was so close. Another shattering scream causes me to wince, I glance up at the little girl who is desperately grasping at the arm of the man holding her as he hoists her over the edge, leaving her dangling helplessly over the water.

I grit my teeth, I had hoped to leave everything about what had happened then in the past. Where it belongs. It seems however, that not only will these slavers not leave me alone, but they seem to be amassing information about me; more each time they have me in their grasp. I clench my left fist in frustration. When I look at the little girl again her eyes meet mine. Her eyes are so blue that I can see it from here. My fist unclenches, I release the rope I'm holding, and before my foot reaches the deck they have closed in on me.

Hands wrench my arms behind my back roughly, and it's all I can do to watch as they bring the girl back over the deck before roughly shepherding her back below deck. I relax slightly as I watch her disappear into the door that leads down. When one of the people who closed in on me pulls too harshly, I pull back a little, "Hey! Be caref—" I am completely cut-off as one of these jackasses pulls a piece of fabric into my mouth and ties it behind my head.

Once they feel they have sufficiently bound me, meaning that my hands are bound behind my back with a rope around my middle that leads away from me like a leash. God, they're treating me like a rabid dog or something.

They lead me back through the doors I came out of, not that from there I know where I came from. So, when they take me to a fairly ornate looking door I find myself incredibly confused. I definitely didn't go through anything that fancy. They knock firmly but not harshly and then open the door. None of them step in, but the one behind me shoves me forward. I stumble into the room, but I don't fall over.

When I look up I see Virilis beckoning to one side of the ridiculous ornate room. Honestly, I can't believe the effort that must have been put into this space. It must be his personal office or something. However, what I am doing here is what really concerns me right now. He can't possibly want to have a soon to be slave dirtying his lovely space.

That is until he goes up to the bookshelf on the right side of the room as I am nudged and pushed further into the space. Oh, no… Please don't be what I'm thinking it is… This would be way too cliched if it is… But, alas, he reaches out to an old but plain looking book on the shelf and slides it to the side. I hear a click before the book case pops open a little and Virilis pulls it the rest of the way open.

It's dark on the other side of his bookcase door and when he steps through I see him begin to go down. When I am pushed towards the space I see that there are stairs and there is a light at the bottom. Fear flutters in my chest in anticipation as to what is next and what I will find at the bottom of the stairs. I don't recall being a very frightened or scare-able person before all of this happened, but I suppose there is a lot more here to fear than the place I came from and the life that was taken away.

Although, when I get down to the room I find my self momentarily confused before it hits me like a freight train. Manacles on the walls, trays of tools, tables with chains and… Other things. This is…

"Welcome to my private getaway." Virilis gestures widely at the space, seemingly proud of his little torture room. He strolls past a table drawing finger along it as he goes, "Now, it isn't as large as my true one in Tevinter, but I find that it works just as well for when I… Need to accomplish something." More shoving forces me in the direction of a set of manacles on the wall that seem to be fixed to some kind of pulley system, the height they are at now reminds me of the manacles Dorian used in the caged cart. "In your case however," He takes the few steps towards me and begins to untie the ropes, "you have knowledge that we must have. Don't worry, you'll understand soon enough." I consider bolting for it again once enough of the binds are loose, until a knife comes up to my throat from behind me. "But don't worry…" I am ushered over to the manacles, turned around and shoved down to the level of the manacles; all with the gag still keeping me silent. "We will still need you to at least be able to follow orders when I'm done with you. So, I won't go too far." With that the manacles are shut around my wrists and the fluttering fear from before begins to settle as more of a film over me. The other man leaves the two of us in the space alone as Virilis removes the fabric that had been keeping me silent.

"If you think that torture is the key to getting me to be an obedient little slave girl, you are going to be sorely disappointed." I glare up at him.

Amulius Virilis strides over to the table and considers a few of the implements upon it before grab a simple knife and stalking back over to me.

"I apologize…" Uh… What, now? "You seem to be under the impression that you will be simply a slave once we arrive at our destination." He squats down so his eyes are level with mine, "I find myself in the position of correcting this terrible misinformation on our part." He brings the knife up to my face and lightly traces it from my cheek bone down the side of my face and neck, I tilt my head slightly away from him, "Now, I can see how this happened… Right up to this point you have been transported with slaves." He brings the knife to the edge of my shirt, "To be perfectly honest with you, that has been more out of convenience. I have wondered whether this is really the best solution for your specific case but in the end… My opinions were overruled." After pulling a small slit in my shirt he brings the blade up to his own face, "And so, on the slaver ship we travel. But I digress, you see… Your value is much higher than that of a slave. Without going into too much detail…" He moves in closer, leaving only millimetres between us, "You will deeply wish for the simple and easy life of the most abused slaves in Tevinter." I had taken this man as the sort to be more concerned with showboating than anything but in just the last couple of minutes, I have realized that I was horribly wrong.

"Although, for the time that it takes us to arrive at our destination, I am to…" He stands up from next to me and walks over to some ropes hanging against the adjacent wall, "Extract some information that concerns you and the previous encounters between yourself and our… Associates." He pulls the rope and my arms are pulled up by the manacles leaving me just at standing height. "Our first order of business concerns the two full bands of our group that have been slaughtered while transporting you." He examines his knife as he meanders towards me. "You see," He turns his head to look at me, "It is deeply concerning for us that not only one, but two fairly sizable bands of our loyal workers have been butchered with you as their cargo."

He takes the final steps towards me, my mind firing through what to be ready for, Dorian's final message to me rings through my mind… I look to the wooden floor, Dorian was brutal in a very physical way, but this man seems more refined. In a very frightening way, I can already feel him encroaching on my psychological integrity. Maybe if I prepare for it I can keep most of myself… Virilis' feet entering my vision brings my eyes to meet his. I can see the deep experience in his eyes, the cold and calculating way he looks deeply into my own.

He slides the knife under the bottom of my shirt, "If you were thinking that my style is anything like Dorian Falis', then you are about to be disappointed. See at least with his style it can be argues that it would eventually become physically pleasurable. However. I am not he and I tend to hoard all the pleasure of this to myself." He jerks the knife up and out easily tearing through my shirt.

He draws his hand across my midriff, slightly to the left, where the scars from Dorian's dagger are ever present. Virilis chuckles a little, "I suppose that Dorian thought that he would get to tame you first, did he?" He walks back over to the table on the other side of the room, "He did tell me about the particular mix he fashioned for those scars, it looks to me as though it worked just the way he had intended. He was even so kind as to give me the remainder of the mix…" He looks over his shoulder at me, "Shall we get started then?"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading and on an end note:**

 **Dorian Falis is a character that Lady Audentium created and I borrowed this character... Therefore, the name is entirely up to her. She opted to go for the last name "Falis" which is meant to mirror the word "phallus." Like I said, her character... Her naming... Although, it was at my insistence that she give him a last name to ensure that he is very different from any other characters of course.**

 **As always, I love to hear feedback about my story and writing. So please comment your thoughts, critiques of my writing or even any tips you may have for improving my writing. Thank you!**


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